Anywhere Her Heart May Lead - To Her Heart's Content
by Olofa
Summary: AHHML: "Everyone wants someone to adore them, and someone to adore. I wish they could be the same person." Elsanna in her heart, Elsingrid in her bed, and a state visit to the Southern Isles. Intrigue, lust, guilt, angst. NOT OUaT Ingrid. Sequel to Anything Her Heart Desires. THHC: Elsanna in her bed, Elsingrid on her conscience. Nothing's ever simple. A/N in Reviews.
1. Midnight

"…oh anna i love you i love you anna i love you…" Elsa's voice was less than a whisper. She mouthed the words, and if her breathing hadn't already been heavy and rapid she wouldn't have made a sound at all.

The sensations from the warm kisses and soft caresses she had received and given had funnelled down between her thighs. Now the tide had reversed and she felt the stimulation that began there spread out through her body, a rising wave of delicious tension. It reached her throat, the tightness turning her gasps into moans and whimpers.

"Ah. Ahn. Ahnnn." Her eyes gently closed, her mouth slightly open, Elsa was helpless to do anything except respond to the visions behind her eyelids and the fire rising up from her cleft. She saw a jumble of images, of Anna's red hair unbound and cascading down her shoulders, Anna's soft lips parting in a fond smile, Anna's eyes shining with love for her sister, Anna's creamy skin dusted with freckles as if she had been sprinkled with cinnamon. Anna's toned legs, her tender hands, the curve of her breasts. Anna.

Elsa's fists gripped the bedsheets. Her body was at war, the urge for release versus the hunger to sustain this exquisite agony as long as possible. She slapped the mattress once and gripped the sheets again. Her head rocked restlessly from side to side.

Elsa felt a soft warm hand slide across her belly and cup her breast. A fingernail raked gently and deftly across her nipple in a way that never failed to affect her, sending electric tingles down her core, along the insides of her thighs and down to her flexing, curling toes. Her body was a violin string, taut and vibrating. Her moans came clearer. She approached her peak.

"Oh Anna oh God yes Anna yes oh God I love you Anna oh God _yes!_" The wild energy in her body was unleashed. She arched, her hips levitating off the bed. She slapped the mattress again, and once more. She cupped both hands over her cleft, protecting herself from any more pleasure than she could bear. Her body fell back to the bed with a thud. She lay gasping for a little while, luxuriating in the ecstasy of release, savouring it for the brief period before her spirit thudded down as hard as her body had.

She raised her head from the pillow and looked down. "Oh. I said her name again, didn't I. I'm sorry."

"It's all right," said Ingrid, looking up at Elsa from between her thighs and smiling compassionately.

"I didn't mean to, Ingrid."

"It's all right. I understand."

"I couldn't help myself."

"I know. It's all right."

Elsa's head flopped back onto the pillow. She looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry."

Ingrid sat up and wiped her face with a damp washcloth. "Please don't apologize. It really is all right. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"You were…there…down there…and I was saying her name. I'm sorry."

"I'm fine. I'm happy. I _like_ it when you say her name."

Elsa raised up on her elbows to look at Ingrid, her brow furrowed. "Ingrid, how…why…how can you like it?"

Ingrid's compassionate smile turned a bit naughty. "I like what it does to you."

Elsa's own expression faded from bafflement to bemused contentment. She lay back, and Ingrid scootched up to lie next to her queen, resting her head in the hollow of Elsa's shoulder.

Elsa thought about the strange path that brought this slip of a girl into her bed. _Nine months ago she was a terrified junior housemaid. Now she's here. _When Elsa's incestuous passion for her sister drove them apart, when Elsa was alone and heartbroken, the one person who came to comfort her was Ingrid. Trembling, sweating, and carrying a board game because she heard that her queen was "sad and lonely". When Elsa wasn't up to talking but couldn't bear to be alone, Ingrid sat quietly and played hnefatafl with her. When Elsa and Anna reconnected, fighting to rebuild their sisterhood around a passion that couldn't be returned or denied, Ingrid was always there to be Elsa's calm refuge.

Then four months ago, a little before Christmas, Anna pushed them together under the mistletoe. Elsa finally saw the devoted young woman who had quietly adored her.

They kissed.

_And now she's my… What is she, anyway?_ More than a friend. Less than a lover. Still a faithful servant. _Girlfriend? Protégé? Mistress? Concubine? _Elsa pictured Ingrid in a belly-dancer's costume, harem pants hanging off her slender hips, pale serious face peeking over a veil. She chuckled quietly. _No, not concubine. _

It would've been so much simpler if she could've loved Ingrid the way she loved Anna. And kinder to Ingrid. She liked Ingrid. She was deeply fond of her. She cared about her. But Elsa's love and passion all belonged to her radiant, vibrant, adorable, sometimes infuriating sister. It was a doomed and unnatural love, but it was beautiful and it was hers. _Everyone wants someone to adore them, and someone to adore. I wish they could be the same person. _She gave Ingrid a quick squeeze._ Like she said, I can't be sad for what I've lost. I have to be grateful for what I've had._

"Ingrid, I don't understand how you have the strength not to be jealous."

Ingrid sighed happily. "Strength? Me? Oh no. I'm too lazy and selfish to be jealous."

"Really?" Elsa was feeling a bit better. "Tell me more."

"I'm too lazy to try to nag you into loving me. Especially since it could never work. And I'm too selfish to make myself miserable and spoil my happiness with you. I'd rather be content."

"And you're sure you don't feel even a bit of jealousy?"

"If it makes you uncomfortable I _could_ badger you about spending time with Anna, and act sulky if you mention her name, and slide little digs about her into the conversation until you have to lie about what you're feeling and sneak around to spend time with her. But I don't think I could make you unhappy enough to like me better."

Elsa chuckled softly. "You have a sly sense of humour, Mouse."

"Thank you."

"I just wish you were having a better time." She smiled mirthlessly. "I feel like a poor hostess."

"What do you mean?"

Elsa grew solemn. "Well, I, um, reached my peak and you didn't. It doesn't seem fair to you. I appreciate what you do — 'appreciate' doesn't _begin_ to describe it, I was literally ecstatic — but I wish you were…_enjoying _yourself, too."

The smile faded from Ingrid's face. "Oh. I see."

"What is it?"

"I did enjoy myself. Three times. I didn't think I was doing enough for _you_."

"What? Just now?" She felt Ingrid nod against her shoulder. "What — "

"I didn't want to interrupt."

"Interrupt!? You've been holding out on me. Did you think I wouldn't enjoy your pleasure?" She sighed, then caressed Ingrid's hair and kissed her forehead. "Silly Mouse. I worry sometimes that you take devotion too far." She felt Ingrid about to apologize, and cut her off. "Shush. And how could I have missed it? Missed them, I guess. How could you be that restrained?"

"I grew up sharing a small bedroom with two older sisters. I can be very quiet. I could show you if you'd like."

"That would be…interesting. I'd like to see that sometime." Elsa stared at the ceiling. She had been raised to be queen. She was taught to rule as she was taught to read and write. The idea that her people would be devoted to her, obedient, was second nature to her. But having that obedient devotion curled up naked at her side was very different. Why was devotion so easy to accept on her throne, but so awkward in her bed?

Lost in thought, it took Elsa a while to notice that Ingrid had already started her demonstration. Ingrid's hand was demurely tucked between her thighs. Only a slight flexing in Ingrid's arm, pressed against Elsa's side, hinted that her hand was moving. Elsa watched in quiet surprise. Ingrid barely moved. To an observer, she would've seemed peacefully asleep. Elsa held her own breath and listened to Ingrid's breathing; faster and deeper, but still smooth and nearly silent. She wanted to hold Ingrid closer but was afraid of disturbing her delicate performance. After a minute or so Ingrid opened her eyes and smiled up at Elsa, her gaze half-drugged with pleasure. Elsa smiled fondly back, and nodded. Ingrid closed her eyes again. Elsa felt Ingrid's motionless body tense in her arms and heard her breath stop. It didn't catch, it simply paused. For long seconds, everything was still.

Then the tension melted away and Ingrid released her breath in a long, deep, silent exhale. She looked adoringly at Elsa again, and mouthed, "Thank you."

They lay together in silence for a long while, Ingrid curled under Elsa's arm, Elsa staring at the ceiling.

"Ingrid?"

"Yes?"

"You don't have to go."

Ingrid sighed. "There's nothing I want more, but if my bed's not slept in, people will talk."

"Oh dear." Elsa gave Ingrid a comforting squeeze. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. That is, I do wish you could stay the night, but I meant that you don't have to go to the Southern Isles for me."

"I leave tomorrow. Everything's arranged."

"It doesn't have to be. I can undo the arrangements. You can stay here. You don't have to put yourself at risk."

Ingrid raised herself up on one elbow to look at Elsa. "Yes, I do. I swore to defend your person. And I will. Unless you've changed your mind about attending Prince Harald's wedding."

"No, I can't. I have to go. Diplomacy."

"You are my queen. If you command me to stay, I will. But unless one of your agents has finally infiltrated King Frederik's castle, it's my duty." Ingrid's eyes pleaded with Elsa."Please, let me do this for you."

Elsa hugged Ingrid to her side. "I'll see you in a month, in the Southern Isles."

"You'll see a silent little housemaid who no one will notice, inconspicuously dusting every secret in the castle." Ingrid giggled. "I'll be quiet as a mouse."

Elsa frowned at her. "You have to take this seriously."

"I do. Of course I do. I'm just happy and excited to serve you like this. I'll be fine. After all, did any of your councillors suspect that I was the one you had spy on them?"

Elsa lay back and chuckled. "You should've seen their faces. I swear, Anna was on the verge of laughing the entire time. When I told them I was going to have a security review they were probably expecting a lecture and a scolding. They weren't expecting me to drop sensitive information — that you retrieved — in front of them and tell them what they were doing wrong. The Councillor of State turned white, the Councillor of the Exchequer was about to faint, even the Councillor for Defense of the Realm looked embarrassed."

"Well, he shouldn't have kept his strongbox keys next to his strongbox then. And none of them imagined it was me, did they."

"Not a one. They all assumed I'd hired some freelance secret agent to test their security. When they pressed for details, Anna made up some story about Finn Rejdersen, international secret agent."

"Finn Rejder—? That sounds like..."

"Yes, the Prince Consort of Corona's old alias. I think Anna was deliberately trying to make me laugh. She nearly did, the brat." Elsa grinned. "You should've been there."

"I was."

"What? When?"

"You were facing the Councillor for Schools and Orphanages, asking if he had something he'd like to share with the rest of the cabinet. I stepped in and refilled the water pitcher. Was that wrong?"

Elsa bit her lip thoughtfully. "Well, you were in the room and they still didn't suspect you. I suppose that shows you're more competent than any of my 'real' spies."

"Please have faith in me. I'll be fine."

Ingrid put out the lamp, snuggled closer to Elsa, and they lay in comfortable silence in the dark. Elsa hadn't felt this relaxed for too long. She listened to Ingrid's breathing and smiled contentedly to herself.

She was starting to drift off when Ingrid screwed up her courage and said, "Elsa?"

"Yes?"

"When…" _I'm gone, will you miss me? Will you think of me? No, I can't think like that. She has important things to do. _

"When what?"

"When you go to the Southern Isles, I'm sure Anna will do an excellent job as Princess Regent."

Elsa's voice was blurry with sleepiness. "Mm, Anna. She'll be good."

They lapsed into silence again.

Once Elsa had fallen asleep, Ingrid slipped out of bed. She tucked in her queen, then by touch and memory she dressed, gathered her things, and prepared to go. As she reached the door she turned to face the bed. "Good night, Your Majesty," she said softly, and curtseyed. "I love you."

She left, and padded in the darkness to her bed.


	2. Awake And Dreaming

Without looking up from the breakfast roll that she was spreading with cheese, Anna asked, "So, Elsa. 'Sleep' well last night?" She turned her head so that Nils and Helga couldn't see her raised eyebrow.

"Why yes. Very well." Elsa was the picture of sophisticated grace as she buttered her rye bread. Nothing except a glitter in her eye and the trace of a smile gave anything away. "I can't remember a more pleasant night's sleep. In fact, I'd say I was very thoroughly…rested."

"Really? You weren't tossing and turning?"

"I must admit I may have thrashed around a bit. But in the end there's nothing like having a soft cushion next to me, to help me relax."

Anna shoved the roll in her mouth to plug the giggles.

"Are you all right, Anna? Do you need a glass of water?" asked Elsa, her expression politely concerned.

Anna waved away Helga and the water pitcher. Around the mouthful of bun she mumbled, "Mmo fank you, I'm fine." She swallowed. "I just really liked that roll." She wiped her mouth with a napkin and turned to her sister. "Pleasant dreams, then?"

Smiling but not playful, Elsa said, "Yes. I was dreaming of you."

Anna's urge to giggle abruptly vanished. Seeing her expression, Elsa dipped her head and focused on her plate. They ate in silence.

"So. Elsa." Anna sipped her juice, moistening her suddenly-dry mouth. "Any plans for this morning?"

"Reports to read, petitions to consider. And speaking of reports, you might want to get started on those briefing notes I left for you. You'll be Princess Regent in a month, you know." Elsa smiled proudly and confidently at her sister.

Anna looked down at the table thoughtfully, then up at Elsa. "So just paperwork today? That's it? For both of us?"

"If you have any questions you know you can come to me anytime."

Anna paused, then brightened. "Sure. I'll look at those notes, then pop in on you. In your private study, right?"

"Of course."

"Of course," Anna echoed, and set to work on her breakfast.

* * *

Elsa was reading through a budget request from the Councillor for Schools and Orphanages while doodling frost patterns with her pinky on her desk blotter, when she heard a rapid knocking at her door.

"It's me," said Anna in a slightly-too-loud voice. "I'm just here to _discuss those notes_ with you."

Just the distraction she needed. "Come in, Anna."

Anna opened the door a crack, slipped through it, and quickly closed it behind her. She was carrying her papers, and had a cloth bag slung over her shoulder. She glanced furtively from side to side.

Elsa smiled indulgently. "Anna, there's no one in here but me. Or in my outer office. Who are you hiding from?"

"I think you mean, 'From whom are you hiding?'," said Anna, and slid dramatically to the chair across from Elsa's desk.

Elsa's smile deepened. _I knew it'd sink in eventually._ "But what are you doing?"

"I'm here to 'review my notes'. Like you suggested this morning?"

"Then why are you skulking around like…" she chuckled, "…Finn Rejdersen?"

Anna turned to face her directly. "Didn't you want me to help you?"

"With what?"

Anna held up a couple of bonnets and cloaks from her bag. "With sneaking you out so you could see Ingrid off, incognito. Her ship leaves in just over an hour." Anna saw the blank look on Elsa's face, and dropped the disguises back in the bag. "That…wasn't a hint this morning?"

"No, I really did plan to do paperwork this morning." With a little more emphasis she added, "And I really did think it'd be a good idea for you to review those notes."

Anna looked at her, wide-eyed. "You're not seeing her off?"

"I hadn't planned to."

"But she'll be gone for a month."

"I didn't think it'd be necessary." Elsa smiled a little naughtily. "I think she had a pretty good send-off last night."

Anna huffed. "Even so. She's going off to infiltrate the Southern Isles. For a month. Don't you care?"

"Of course I do. But she reassured me last night that she'd be fine. I don't think she'd take offense if I didn't make a fuss."

Anna couldn't understand how Elsa could be so calm. "Of course she wouldn't take offense. She's…she's so Ingrid! I don't think she knows _how_ to take offense. But don't you feel, you know…"

"Go on."

"Don't you like her?"

Elsa straightened in her chair. "Of course I like her. Very much. She's a very good friend. Next to you she's my best friend. I'm…very fond of her."

"But don't you feel at all…" Anna's hands flailed as she groped for words. "…sentimental?"

Elsa looked away. "I can't afford to be sentimental. Not with her."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" Elsa's irritation flared for a moment, then faded to reveal the sadness beneath it. "She's already attached to me. I don't want her falling in love." Her voice tapered off. "Not while I'm still in love with you."

"Y'know, I've been meaning to talk to you about that."

Elsa's eyes were kind, but tired. "We've talked so much, what more can we say?"

"I think, maybe, you might not be as in love with me that way. Anymore. Maybe."

She blinked. "Anna, I know what I feel."

"Well, maybe not so much." Anna leaned across the desk towards her. "Sometimes I think maybe you're in love with the idea of me. Or even the idea of being in love with me."

"You think I made this up?"

"No! Of course not. Not to begin with, anyway. But maybe this big, dramatic doomed love of yours is so big that it's not really attached to _me_ anymore. I mean," she held up one hand in a grand gesture, "a tragic passion that will echo through the ages, and," she held up her other hand just above the table, "…me. Just me. I love that you love me, and you know that I love you, but I'm not Guinevere. I'm not Isolde, or Juliet, or whatever. I'm not 'the sun that blots out the stars and illuminates your soul.' I'm not the best or smartest or prettiest or nicest…anything." She shrugged. "I'm just me."

"Anna, don't say that. You're very special. You're—"

"Elsa, there's nothing wrong with me being me. I like being me. But I'm not as dramatic as you."

Elsa sat back. "You think I dramatize things?"

"No, I mean you _are_ dramatic, just by being you. You're someone to be dramatic _about_. You're so…I don't know. I mean me, I'm not like you. I'm not…" She sat up with a stern expression and a scolding finger, in a parody of regal command. "And I'm certainly not…_foosh!_" She pantomimed firing ice magic from her hands. "You're bigger than life. I'm lifesize. And like I said, that's okay."

"But you're my hero, Anna. You're brave, and heroic, and determined, and loyal… You were ready to sacrifice your life to save mine. You were ready to sacrifice…other things, too."

Anna shook her head. "I was just doing things I had to do. But you look at this bigger-than-life love thing between us, and I don't know if you can see me behind it."

Elsa brought her hands together, prayer-wise, and touched her fingertips to her lips. _She has a point__. I've thought about this for so long, for so often, maybe I've given it a life of its own._ She looked up at her sister. "Anna, come here please," she asked gently.

Anna walked around the desk and stood in front of her. "What is it?"

"You may be right. I'd like to test that. May I have your hand, please?"

"Wait, what?"

"Just your hand. Just you, just me. With your permission, I'm going to see if those feelings are really there, and not simply in my head." She took a quick, shuddering breath. "Just your hand. Nothing else. If that's okay. If you trust me."

Anna read the calm in Elsa's face and knew there was tension behind it. "Okay, I suppose." She offered the back of her hand to Elsa as if she was approaching a nervous cat.

Elsa cradled Anna's hand in both of hers. Softly, she kissed the hand, brushing and caressing the soft skin with her lips. She stroked her cheek against it, and against the fingers. She gently wrapped the fingers around her hand and kissed each finger in turn. She turned it over and cupped the palm against her cheek, stroking her own face as if Anna was tenderly stroking it, one cheek and then the other. She nuzzled the moister, softer skin of Anna's palm, then inhaled and caught a tantalizing trace of sweat evaporating there. She cupped Anna's hand to her mouth, feeling the fingers warm and soft against her face. She kissed the palm, then each finger, her lips lovingly embracing each one in turn. No teeth, no tongue, no pressure, only the gentlest caress her lips could manage. She put Anna's fingers over her nose and mouth and inhaled, air filtering between the digits. As Elsa moaned, Anna felt Elsa's lips vibrating against her hand. Elsa's lips slid down to the tips of the fingers. She was about to take one in her mouth and suckle it when Anna pulled her hand away.

Elsa snapped out of her reverie and looked up at Anna, startled and guilty, her eyes pleading for forgiveness. She saw the shock and discomfort in Anna's face before they both turned away in embarrassment.

"I, um, okay then," said Anna. She held her hand awkwardly at her side, furiously fighting the urge to break Elsa's heart by wiping it vigorously against her skirt. "I'm, you know, sorry for doubting you. You were right." She stumbled quickly back to her chair, putting the desk between her and Elsa.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. It…we…it was a thing we did, and we did it, and now we know. It's okay."

"Anna. Please be honest with me."

She had never seen Elsa look so vulnerable. "Of course."

"When you… When you fixed me up with Ingrid. And just now, when you wanted me to go see her off. Were you…"

Anna leaned forward and spoke softly. "Elsa. You can tell me. Go ahead."

"Were you…trying to get rid of me?"

"I don't follow."

Elsa took a deep breath, then spoke in a rush. "Were you trying to fob me off on someone else so I wouldn't be in love with you anymore? Were you trying to get me to leave you alone? And not bother you anymore?"

Anna leaned over the desk and took Elsa's hands. "No, Elsa, no. It's not like that."

"It disturbs you. I could see it in your face."

"I was never trying to get rid of you. I just wanted to help you. You were doing okay back then, but I could see you were still sad and I thought it'd be nice for you to have someone to do…that stuff with. And with you and Ingrid getting on so well, I wanted it to, you know, keep going on well. But I'd never ever want to get rid of you." Elsa smiled at her, relieved. "I'm just glad there's someone else who can help you with your affliction."

The expression on Elsa's face slammed shut. "My what."

_Uh oh._ "Your…" _oh god oh god oh god oh god_ "…little problem. Inconvenience. Thing."

"Affliction. You think my love for you is an affliction."

"Well…" Anna smiled uncomfortably.

"You think I'm sick."

Anna stood, and started pacing. "It's not like you can help it. I mean, you're not a bad person. You're a good person. But it is kind of unnatural. And, sort of, not entirely…sensible."

"You think I'm insane."

"No!"

"I could see it. In your expression, just now, when you pulled your hand away."

"I was scared. And overwhelmed. But not like that. When I saw how you were reacting… Do you know what it's like to have that kind of power over someone you love, but a power that you can't really control? And you want to help but you're afraid of hurting her? Do you know how scary that is?" She shook her head. "Oh perkele, of course you do. Forget I said anything." And to herself, "Shut _up_, Anna."

"You think it's unnatural. You think it's madness."

"Well, yeah, but so do you! I mean, that's what you said."

Elsa stood up. "That's different!"

"Why?"

"_I don't know!_" She stepped back, turned away. "I don't know. I'm sorry." Still looking at the floor, she asked, "Anna, what time is it?"

They had made a rule never to go more than twenty-four hours without speaking to each other.

Anna looked at the wall clock. "Just after ten thirty."

"I'll see you by ten thirty tomorrow. Tell Kai to have my lunch brought here, please."

Anna took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. "I'll do that. I'm sorry, Elsa."

"Tomorrow."

Elsa sat down again. Anna reached the door and turned. She paused. She opened her mouth to say something, stopped herself, and sighed. "Tomorrow." She closed the door behind her.

* * *

That afternoon Anna was curled up in an armchair in the castle's library, reading a biography of Jeanne d'Arc and sipping tea, when she heard the door open. Without looking up she said, "I'm not done my tea, Nils, come back later."

"It isn't Nils."

"Elsa!" She jumped up, ran to her sister, and hugged her. "It's great to see you. And so soon. You do know I'm sorry, right? I didn't mean any of those things I said, and I'm so sorry about—"

"It's not that." Elsa detached herself and took a step back. "But thank you. Those things you said _were_ true. It just hurt hearing them out loud. Hearing them from you." She looked down and away, then up at Anna. "Would you mind sitting down? There's something I'd like you to look at."

"Sure." Anna returned to her armchair. The other armchair was on the far side of the room, so Elsa conjured a straight-backed chair of ice for herself. She handed a small slab of ice to Anna, and sat down.

_Déj__à__ vu. _The rectangular slab was about half the size of the book she was reading. It was plain, except for angular letters inside which read:

_If you were not queen_

_nor I a servant,_

_I'd be your servant_

_and you my queen._

"Huh." Anna thought it over, holding the piece of ice away from her so it wouldn't drip in her lap. She looked up at Elsa and smiled awkwardly. _This again._ "This is very sweet, of course, but I think I'm missing something. Maybe my head's still stuck in French," she said, waving the ice at the book she was reading, then stopping before she dripped water on it, "but I don't see what you're getting at. I mean, I'm not a queen. I'm not even Princess Regent yet."

"What? Oh. I see. No, it wasn't for you. It was for me."

"Oh. Good." Anna sighed. "I didn't want to say it, but it's not your best work. Ice-wise."

Elsa chuckled ruefully. "No, it's not mine. It's from…" She tilted her head, shrugged.

"Ingrid? Yeah. Um, would you mind?" She passed the dripping ice back to Elsa, who took it back and refroze it.

"She left it with Olaf for me." Elsa tapped the ice message against her thigh. "So."

Anna nodded. "Yeah. That whole 'don't let Ingrid fall in love with me' thing? I kind of think that ship has sailed. So to speak." Elsa nodded and looked down, her thick white braid falling forward. Anna looked at the ice message again. "Say, do you think she was copying the ice sculpture you sent to me that one time? Because, you know, that was sweet even if it did mess things up for a while. Or was she thinking, 'Hey, Elsa likes ice,' so…ice?"

Elsa shook her head, trying to clear it. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

"I guess not. But it does make sense. I mean, she is your Elsa."

"My…what?"

"Your Elsa. She's your Elsa."

"No, I heard you, I just don't follow."

"She's your Elsa, and you're her Anna." Elsa continued to look blankly at her. "Not exactly, because you two do things that you and I never did, quite. And I love you while you just like her a lot, but you do care about her. Anyway, you're in the same position with her that I am with you, and vice versa. She loves you in a way you can't love her back, and you care about her and want her to loosen up and have fun, but you don't want to hurt her by giving too much. That's about it, right?"

Elsa's eyes lit up. "You're saying that you know what I'm going through."

"Yeah."

"And you can tell me what to do."

Anna bit her lip. "Well, that's where the wheels fall off the wagon. I wish I could but I'm still making this up as I go along." She smiled gently and patted Elsa's knee. "But I can listen, and understand."

Elsa put her hand on Anna's hand as relief lit up her face. "Thank you, Anna. That would help. A lot."

_Oh god, I hope it does,_ thought Anna behind her comforting smile.


	3. A Letter To Arendelle

Miss Ingrid Andersen  
Servant's Quarters  
Kongenshjem Castle  
Kingdom Of The Southern Isles

Mrs. E. Vinterhavn  
General Delivery  
City Of Arendelle  
Kingdom Of Arendelle

Dear Mrs. Vinterhavn:

I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying your visit to the city of Arendelle.

Thank you very much for your _letter of recommendation_. It was well _received_ and _without question_ secured me this position at the Royal Castle. I am a Junior Housemaid again and am cleaning and dusting rooms all through the castle. Mr. Møller who is in charge of all the servants has assured me that if I perform well during the Royal Wedding that I would be permitted to stay on.

Having been so recently living in the Kingdom Of Arendelle before returning to my homeland of the Southern Isles, I am an object of some interest to the other servants. After the Unpleasantness of last year there is much speculation as to Arendelle's intentions towards the Southern Isles and vice versa. I could not tell them anything of interest, I'm afraid.

I have been told that messages are routinely checked for Arendellan codes in which case I must apologize to the King's Men for not writing a more interesting letter ha ha.

I am also told that the King's Men are "on the lookout" for a secret agent named Finn Rejdersen. The other servants have asked me what I know of him, which is nothing at all sadly. I promised that if I was approached by a debonair rogue that I would let them all know, and we all had a good laugh.

Please tell your girls Elsie and Hanna that I hope they are well and enjoying each other's company. I particularly miss tucking in Elsie at the end of the day. Seeing her relaxed and comfortable in her bed was always a great comfort to me. I am writing her a bedtime story the first part of which is below.

* * *

The Beautiful White Cat And The Little Black Mouse

Once upon a time there was a Beautiful White Cat and a Little Black Mouse. Despite the great distance between them, even though everyone thought such a thing was impossible, they became the best of friends. The Beautiful White Cat was kind and thoughtful to the Little Black Mouse, and the Little Black Mouse was devoted and faithful to the Beautiful White Cat. She liked nothing better than to stroke the fur of the Beautiful White Cat until she purred, or curl up beside her, or serve her, or simply be with her.

One day the Beautiful White Cat received an invitation from her neighbours the Foxes to come visit their den. "I'm not sure what to do," she said to her friend the Mouse.

A while before, a Bad Fox had come to her home and deceived her sister the Beautiful Ginger Cat, and tried to hurt her sister and herself. The Beautiful White Cat drove the Bad Fox away, and hadn't spoken to her neighbours the Foxes since, nor they to her.

"Perhaps they are sorry for what the Bad Fox did," said the Mouse, "and wish to make amends."

"Perhaps they are loyal to the Bad Fox," said the Cat, "and wish me ill."

"I can help," said the Little Black Mouse. "I can sneak into their den and listen to them plan, and tell you what is in their hearts."

"You are tiny," said the Cat, "and they can swallow you up in a single gulp."

"I am tiny," said the Mouse, "and good at hiding. I will stay in the shadows and not be seen. You have been kind to me, as kind as you are beautiful, and you are very beautiful. Please let me do this for you."

"Very well," said the Beautiful White Cat, and before she could blink the Little Black Mouse was gone.

The Little Black Mouse was as good as her word. In the den lived a litter of Foxes and their father Reynard who led them. She scampered silently through the Foxes' den, sitting quietly in the shadows and listening as the Foxes plotted and argued. And even though the Foxes were large and fierce and could swallow her up in a single gulp she was not afraid, because she was devoted to a purpose greater than herself.

That night she made a little nest to sleep in, and thought over what she had learned that day. On her left paw she counted the Foxes who wished ill upon the Beautiful White Cat.

One had said, "Reynard is old, and knows he cannot lead us against the Cats as he should." This Fox wanted to rule the den himself.

One had said, "The Beautiful White Cat has sharp teeth, and claws that are even sharper. How can she have these and not mean to attack us with them?" This Fox loved to fight, and could not imagine anyone who didn't.

One had said, "Her teeth are not so sharp, neither are her claws. We could defeat her easily." This Fox was afraid of the Beautiful White Cat, and meant to prove he wasn't.

And one had said, "Why does she have such a beautiful home while we are cramped in our den? For the good of our litter, we need that land more than she." This Fox was greedy.

On one of her hind paws she counted Reynard and the other Foxes who wished to make peace. She meant no disrespect. It was simply that her hind paws had five toes, and her front paws had only four.

One had said, "Reynard is old, and wise. We should respect his judgement." This Fox wanted to rule the den beside his father.

One said, "The Beautiful White Cat has sharp teeth, and claws that are even sharper. We would do well to have her as a friend." This Fox was afraid of the Beautiful White Cat, but meant to prove he was prudent.

One said, "She has a beautiful home while we are cramped in our den? For the good of our litter, we should make peace and trade with her again." This Fox was greedy.

One said, "We have been good neighbours before. We should be good neighbours again." This Fox did not love to fight, and could not imagine anyone who did.

And Reynard had said, "We shall invite the Beautiful White Cat to our den, and see if she will be our neighbour again." And that is all he said.

On her right paw she counted the other Foxes. And what a collection of Foxes they were!

One said "Attack" when the other Foxes said attack, and "Make peace" when the others called for peace.

One said, "Do what you will. There are berries to be eaten and vixens to be chased. Let me know what you decide."

One said, "Our brother the Bad Fox has shamed us, and we must renounce him. But he is our brother, and we must stand by him." And in the end it was as if he had said nothing.

And one said "I will go and think on this, and return with an answer." He had not returned with an answer.

The Little Black Mouse thought on this as she lay curled in her nest. There were other mice hiding in the den, but she could not speak of these things to them. This made her feel lonely, and she missed the Beautiful White Cat. But thinking of her friend the Cat made her happy again, as she remembered the warmth and affection they had shared. She pulled the memories over herself like a blanket, curled a little tighter in her nest, and slept.

* * *

This is as far as I have gone with the story. I hope Elsie finds it entertaining and instructional, and I hope to have more to share with her soon. Once again, I hope this letter finds you and Elsie and Hanna well and happy. I look forward to the day we can meet again.

Your servant,

Miss Ingrid Hanna Andersen.


	4. Up And Down

Elsa sat a little straighter in her chair and looked over the councillors seated around the table. "One last thing, gentlemen." As she spoke, she surreptitiously slid a note to Anna, sitting beside her. "Some of you have expressed reservations about Anna's fitness to rule in my stead while I'm gone." Elsa paused. "Don't."

Anna peeked at the note. It was a sketch of a cat sitting up, its tail curled around its feet. _Sit like a cat, not like a mouse? But I haven't been fidgeting. Hardly at all, anyway._

The Councillor Of The Exchequer took off his glasses. "With all due respect to Her Highness, and to Your Majesty of course, I merely wanted to know what recourse we had if the Princess were to make a decision that was…not in the best interests of the kingdom."

_Oh, it was a __**warning**__._ Anna did her best to look as imperious as her sister.

"There's a flaw in your question," said Elsa. "You said, 'With all due respect.' If you gave us all _due_ respect, you wouldn't have asked that question."

"Er, that is — "

"Let me say something I shouldn't need to say." Elsa put her hand to her forehead and rubbed her temples. "From the moment I leave next week to the moment Princess Anna chooses to rescind that authority — "

_Chooses? It's not automatic?_ Anna kept her face still, but couldn't help glancing at Elsa in surprise.

" — she is your sovereign. You will respect and obey her as you do me. You _do_ still respect and obey me, yes?" She raised an eyebrow at Exchequer.

He grinned nervously. "Th-that is, what I meant to say — "

"You are a Councillor. Councillors counsel. Rulers rule. If, the moment I leave, the Princess Regent orders my assassination, there had damn well better be an assassin waiting for me when I come back. Am I clear?"

Anna grabbed her sister's arm. "I would never — "

"I never meant to suggest — "

"You know she would never do such a thing, because you trust her judgement. So do I. I know she would never do anything to harm me, or the kingdom. That's why I trust her with that authority, and why you will, too." She tidied her already-tidy notes. "The meeting is concluded. You may go."

The councillors bowed and filed out a little faster than usual, leaving Anna alone with Elsa. She put her hand on Elsa's arm, more gently this time. "Listen. Elsa. Is there something you need to tell me? That you want to talk about?"

Elsa put her hand on Anna's, and gazed thoughtfully at their hands together. "What I want…" She sat up. "What I want to do is go for a walk."

"Oh."

"With you, if you're free."

"Oh. Sure. Where to?"

"Someplace quiet. Do you remember that path you showed me, on the northeast side of the fjord?"

"Elsa, that's not a walk, that's a climb. It's practically straight up. I mean, I'd love to, if you're up to it."

"Very well, then." Elsa stood to leave.

"Now remember your hiking boots. Just because you can cool off your feet doesn't mean you can't still get blisters and stuff. Which you won't, because you'll be wearing good socks and those boots I got you. Right?"

Elsa smiled. "Yes, of course. Thank you for looking out for me."

"I'll get a carriage and meet you out front in a minute. Oh, and water. I'll get some water. And boots, and a light jacket. And I think we have some walking sticks. Make that five minutes, okay?"

"Okay." Elsa smiled warmly at her sister as Anna started to leave, turned around, paused, and turned around to leave again. "Five minutes, Anna."

Ten minutes later Anna drew up a light carriage at the castle's front entrance.

* * *

It was a clear, sunny spring day. The hillside was green and lush. Bushes and wildflowers framed the grassy path upwards, the trees were thick with leaves, the air was heavy with the smell of new growth. Anna tried to share these with her sister, but for all the attention Elsa paid as she marched up the hillside she might as well have been climbing a staircase.

After about half an hour they reached a clear plateau. Anna wiped her forehead and said, "Okay, let's stop. It's time for a break."

"You're tired already?"

"No, you are." Anna took Elsa by the hand and pulled her off and into the clearing. "I'm the one who tromps everywhere and you're the one who sits and looks regal, remember? Now sit down, take a deep breath, and look at the sky." Elsa stood, fidgeting. "Elsa, sit! Good girl." Anna grinned at her and flopped on the grass.

Elsa sat hugging her knees for about a minute, then got up and paced around the clearing.

"Well, if you can't sit still anyway, could you do something for me?" Anna stood up and brushed herself off.

Elsa stood still, but still looked around restlessly. "Certainly. What?"

Anna made a show of assessing the clearing. "I think this place could use…a gazebo. Right there. A big one. And maybe some ruined pillars along there, facing."

"A folly?"

"No, I'm serious."

"Anna, a folly is an architectural term for — "

"That was a 'joke', Elsa." Anna gave her a playful shove. "I'm sure you've read about them."

"Oh." Elsa smiled, chuckled at herself. "So you mean a public works project?"

"No, just you. Right now." Anna took Elsa's hands and looked at her affectionately, and with a spark of childlike fun in her eyes. Softly she said, "Do the magic."

Elsa had a sudden flashback to the day that she and Anna were playing in the ballroom as children, the day that she… "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Pleeeease? Please please please?"

Anna's eagerness broke the spell. Smiling with amusement, and secretly flattered, Elsa pulled her hands away and prepared. She stepped to the place Anna had indicated and stamped her foot. A hexagon of ice blossomed underneath her, spread and rose majestically to form the base of the gazebo, ringed by a waist-high railing. Suddenly six slender pillars shot up, grew delicate corner braces, and supported a peaked roof of icy latticework. The spring sunlight shone and dazzled reflections and refractions through the crystal, scattering rainbows and brilliant shafts of light. Elsa created a bench and sat down. She looked thoughtfully across the clearing, stood again, and moved to the railing. She gestured and six Roman pillars, milky ice the colour of white marble, emerged from the grass in a gently curving line. "Ruins," Elsa murmured. She flicked a finger at each one, and in turn each pillar's capital cracked loose and landed on the ground. She turned to Anna, then held up a hand to wait. "Almost forgot." With a swift flick of her hand a gap opened in the railing and stairs extended down towards Anna. "All right." Elsa smiled shyly. "Do you like it?"

Anna ran up the stairs to her sister, grinning, her eyes shining in delight. She spun Elsa around, then looked up at — through — the roof as she turned on the spot, her arms outstretched. "This is amazing!"

A blush brought unaccustomed colour to Elsa's face. "You really think so? I thought by now you might have grown bored with my…" A smile illuminated her face. "My _gift."_

"Oh, I will _never_ get bored of this. This is amazing. _You_ are amazing. This is…"

Light danced teasingly in Elsa's eyes. "Surprising? Astonishing? Impressive?"

Anna shrugged, then threw her hands in the air. "Amazing!" They laughed, she wrapped her arms around Elsa and hugged her tightly.

Anna led Elsa around the gazebo. "You see? See what beautiful things you can do? Well, I mean obviously you can see it, it's right there. But you see how beautiful and magical you can make stuff? Isn't it incredible?" Elsa saw it through Anna's eyes, with Anna's enthusiasm, and it was exalting. Anna stepped in front of Elsa and locked her eyes on her sister's. "You. _You_ are amazing."

She took Elsa by the hand. "Now come here." She led Elsa to the bench and they sat side by side. "You were acting weird in the Council meeting, then you come out here and march up the hill like, I don't know, you're conquering it or something. Elsa, is there something you want to tell me?"

Elsa looked around at everything except Anna. "Honestly, I'm fine."

"Okay, then is there something you _don't_ want to tell me?" Anna waited for a response. "Right. Well, then there's something I have to say." Anna spun around on the bench, facing backwards so she could look Elsa in the eyes without twisting around. "That thing you said, about me being Regent until I give it back. And that other thing, about, you know, the assassination thing. I mean, it kind of sounded like you were making a point, but it also sounded like…" Anna sighed heavily. "Elsa, are you trying to tell me you want to stop being queen? That you want me to take over?"

Elsa gently patted Anna's thigh. "No. God, no. I would never wish that on you. I do want you to be ready, but that's not the same thing."

"Well, something's been bugging you. I think you'd better tell me what it is."

Elsa sighed, shook her head sadly. "I…I'd like you to see this." She pulled out an envelope addressed to Mrs. E. Vinterhavn, handed it to Anna, and folded her hands in her lap. Anna pulled out the letter and read it through. "Oh, this is about Ingrid's feelings, isn't it."

Elsa looked unsettled. "Not that. Not just that. Anna, tell me what you think of the letter."

"First off, I know you're worried about her getting too close, but I've got to say I think it's adorable. The letter, I mean. And really sweet. And I think it was really clever, too."

Like a tutor prompting a reluctant student, Elsa said, "And what did you think was clever about it?"

"Well, the way she put her spy report into a children's story. The den is the Southern Isles and the foxes are the princes and the king, right?"

"Right. You spotted that the first time you read the letter, and you weren't even looking for it." Elsa got up and started pacing, waving her hands. "You think King Frederik's agents wouldn't see it? She might as well have written, 'Dear King Frederik, I am a spy. Sincerely, Ingrid. P.S. I'm in love with Elsa.' My god. This is terrible. _Stupid_."

Anna swung around again. "I don't think it's really fair to be mad at her. She's doing the best she can."

"I'm not angry at her, I'm angry at _me_. _I'm_ stupid. _I_ sent her. Would anything have been easier than telling her not to go?" Elsa scoffed in frustration. "If I'm lucky, she's only in prison."

"Elsa, I'm sure she's all right. If she's in any kind of trouble, I'm sure you could — "

"This is just a symptom, Anna!" Elsa turned to face her. "I'm a fraud. An impostor."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm not a real queen. I don't know what I'm doing."

"That is so not true. All that stuff about rules and laws and regulations? You know that backwards and forwards."

"So does any competent law clerk. But it's my job to make the important decisions. Like, don't send someone you…don't endanger people you…don't put people in danger."

"Elsa, how could you know — "

"It's my _duty_ to know. And I don't. It's not as if I chose to be queen."

"Wow." Anna took it in. "So, what did you want to be?"

"I have no idea! I never even considered it. It was always there, approaching like an oncoming train."

"Hey, Elsa. You know who really wanted the throne? And believed in himself?"

"Who?"

"Prince Hans."

Elsa huffed derisively.

"No, really," continued Anna. "It's not like you want the crown for the wrong reasons, like him, and if you didn't care about doing the right thing you wouldn't be this upset. So it's like that's a good thing, right?"

"It's no use, Anna. As a queen or a person, I'm a disaster."

"How can you even say that?"

"Oh Anna. Look at my life." She chopped the air with her hands for each example, blasting and re-blasting the pillars. "I nearly kill my sister. I shut her out for years. I freeze Arendelle. I nearly kill you _again_. I nearly _get_ killed. You save me. I cut off trade with two major trading partners and nearly destroy our economy. A year later I throw myself at you indecently. I nearly destroy our love. I nearly destroy my spirit. Ingrid saves me. I freeze Arendelle _again_. You try to save Arendelle and me. I nearly kill myself. You and Kristoff save me, and Arendelle. And now…" She waved at the letter still in Anna's hands. "I may have killed Ingrid. I can't dodge catastrophes forever." Her lower lip trembling, she indicated the gazebo. "This is my pattern." She half-chuckled, half-sobbed. "Cause a disaster, climb a mountain, build an ice structure. Exactly the same."

"No, it's completely 100% different."

"How?"

"I'm here. That's how it's different. I'm here for you."

Elsa's eyes filled with tears. "I'm a failure."

Anna ran to her and hugged her tightly as Elsa began to sob. "Shush. You are not a failure. You're a wonderful person and a wonderful queen."

"I'm a tragedy waiting to happen," Elsa choked out through her crying.

"No! Nobody talks about my sister like that, not even you. All those bad things that happened, _you didn't do them_. Those were things that happened _to_ you. You're strong and brave and noble, and smart and loving and…and other stuff I can't think of right now."

" 'I didn't do them.' Did I shut you out for years?"

"You were protecting me. _You_ were saving _me_."

"Did I k-kiss you? Not like a sister? That's something I didn't do?"

Anna held Elsa at arm's length to look at her. "You can't help what you feel. You can't help who you are. And it's okay." She held Elsa tightly again, and stroked her hair as Elsa cried heavily on her shoulder. "It's okay. I love you. And whatever happens, we'll fix it together. And if we can't fix it, we'll get through it together. I love you, and I'm here for you."

They stood that way for a long while, Elsa sobbing, her body shaking against Anna as she stroked Elsa's hair and shushed her.

Then Elsa began sobbing louder. Anna whispered in her ear, "What is it, sweetie? What's the matter?"

"You're so good to me, and you're holding me, and I felt so warm and loved…and it feels so good when you hold me…and then…and then I started w-wanting you again."

"It's okay."

"It's not fair, Anna. You don't deserve that."

"It's okay." Anna kept holding Elsa tightly. "You didn't try anything, did you?"

"…nnno…"

"And you wouldn't, would you."

"…no…"

"Then it's okay. It's okay. I love you, and I'll always be here for you." Anna let Elsa cry herself out. A treacherous thought at the back of Anna's mind pointed out that if she held her sister very tightly, Elsa wouldn't be able to move enough to try anything. She pushed the thought down and focused on comforting Elsa.

Finally, with a sigh, Elsa pulled gently away from Anna. "There, you see?" said Anna. "You think pretty highly of me, so if I say you're really special you've got to believe me. Right?"

Elsa laughed. "I suppose so." Anna reached for a handkerchief but Elsa already had one out. "I always carry two, these days," she explained.

Anna led her to the bench and sat her down. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a dishrag: limp, soggy, and wrung out." She smiled bravely.

Anna handed her a bottle of water. "Here. Drink this." She did. "Now, do you think you can make it back down?"

Elsa sighed again. "I don't know. Even if it is downhill."

"If it were winter we could…ski… Oh, Elsa?"

"What?"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Elsa tilted her head to one side. "Oh, Anna, I don't know."

"Hey, it beats walking."

Anna's grin began to creep into Elsa's heart. "Oh, all right. For you."

"For us."

And on skis made of ice, on a path of snow, Elsa brightening and Anna whooping in exhilaration, they made their way home.


	5. A Letter To Anders

Miss Ingrid Andersen

Servant's Quarters

Kongenshjem Castle

Kingdom Of The Southern Isles

Mr. Anders V. Andersen

General Delivery

Dear Anders:

It's been two years since you died, and I still miss you very much. Quite a lot has happened since my last letter, and while I do talk to you in my head, I still feel I need to catch you up.

When I wrote you last year, I had been working as a Junior Chambermaid at the Royal Castle, but had yet to be spoken to by the Queen. And now I am a friend to the Queen, and to Princess Anna as well. It is remarkable. I feel more joy than I have ever felt before in my life. I love her, although I mustn't say so.

The Queen is a singular woman of rare beauty. She is kind and wise and just. She is responsible for everyone and everything in Arendelle, which is a burden. I am honoured to help her.

She also has magical powers of ice and snow.

I wish you were alive to meet Her Majesty, or that she had met you when you were alive. I think it would have done you both good. I believe you would have understood each other's isolation. Hers may have been harder. She had to impose it on herself.

I think you could have made her feel better about being romantically attracted to her sister. I think she could have made you feel better about the times you ejaculated when I was washing you. I know you were never romantically attracted to me, and that you couldn't help it. You were probably thinking about Brigit Olesen ha ha. But it made me sad because with all that illness had done to your body, it was the only time you were ashamed of it, and you never needed to be. At any rate you could both have someone to talk to.

You could have reassured each other that it's all right to think of one person while another person is giving you pleasure. Oh, it just occurred to me that it was me both times! Now I'm imagining the two of you comparing notes on me which I think would be very funny, if embarrassing. And what an odd thing for the two of you to have in common.

You would also enjoy meeting Princess Anna. If Brigit is anything to go by, you would find her even prettier. She seems very happy with her paramour, a Sami ice-cutter, but she is very kind-hearted and would have been happy to talk with you, which is more than we can say about Brigit.

You will never guess what I am doing now. I am a spy for the Queen, in the castle of King Frederik of the Southern Isles. She is visiting soon, and even though the King had Prince Hans exiled to Faroe Island she is worried that some may be sympathetic to Prince Hans. And she is right. I sent her a letter to that effect.

It is strange how much of our life together prepared me for this. If I had not spent so much time reading to you and turning pages for you, I never would have learned to read and write so fluently. If Father had not brought Mother home from the Southern Isles, or spoke to each other in Southlige to keep secrets from us, we never would have taught each other the language and I could not now pass as a native of the Southern Isles. If I had not told you everything I saw and heard outside, I would not be as observant as I am.

But the most important thing I learned from you has nothing to do with that. You taught me, by word and example, that I can't be sad for what I've lost. I have to be grateful for what I had. And I had you.

I wish I could have remembered that lesson at your funeral. Once again, I apologize for making a scene. I never should have hurt Mrs. Oland. I'm told she's fully recovered, although Mother says she still remains distant with our family.

But she did say, at your funeral, that it was a blessing that you were dead. And that you had been a burden. And that it was a shame that you had been given to our family. I _could_ still have been good, if she hadn't said she wondered what you could have done to deserve to suffer so long and die so soon.

_Deserve?_ How could you deserve that? If someone as smart and funny and loving as you deserved to die, why did I deserve to live? Or her? Or anyone? Maybe she _did_ deserve to die. _Maybe it's a shame she didn't. __**Maybe it's a shame I didn't, too.**_

I had to step away for a minute. I'm back now.

You taught me to be grateful for what I had. And I am. I'm very grateful that you were my brother, and that I got to love you for as long as I did. I remember the games we played, the books we read, the talks we had, and I'm happy. I remember how you used to make me laugh, and I laugh again. I'm grateful for everything I was able to do for you. I'm even grateful for the time I undressed and held your hand against my body so that you would know what a woman looked and felt like, even if it was only your sister, even if you were embarrassed afterwards. I'm glad I could give you that before you died, since you gave so much to me.

It's strange how many people assumed I was the one keeping you happy, and not vice versa.

After you died, I forgot to be grateful. It very nearly killed me. But I've learned that lesson again, and I don't want you to worry about me.

I have to go burn this letter now, and when I do I will imagine that the soul of the letter will leave the ashes as your soul left your body, and that it will rise up to meet you. I know that's not true. It's stupid. I know that you are dead. But imagining makes me happy. And as I have learned from my love for the Queen, sometimes even the unlikeliest things I imagine can happen.

I still miss you very much though.

Your loving sister,

Ingrid.


	6. Welcome

It was not knowing that made Elsa feel like a fraud.

She stood at the bow of her ship, the _ANV Hæilví_, sailing to the Southern Isles and staring across the water as the land grew closer and more defined. She wasn't trying to appear majestic, or eager to reach land. She simply was hoping that fresh air and a view of something besides the inside of her cabin would help her think. She didn't know what was waiting for her at Kongenshjem Castle. "Mrs. Vinterhavn" hadn't received another letter. She didn't know what had happened to Ingrid. She didn't know how Anna was managing, ruling Arendelle in Elsa's absence. She didn't know what lay ahead. And there was nothing she could do about it except wait and fret.

She had been lost in thought for a while when an "ahem" brought her back to the world. She turned and saw a young naval officer, with straw-coloured hair poking out from under his cap, standing anxiously at attention.

_Young? He's only a couple of years younger than me. _

_So why do I feel so old?_

His arm twitched and his head bobbed as he nervously tried to figure out if he was supposed to bow or salute. He nearly did both at once, then settled on saluting first and then bowing. "Begging Your Majesty's pardon, but we're docked and ready to disembark. Whenever you're ready, ma'am."

She smiled, touched by his eagerness to please. "Thank you. I'll be there in a moment." Then in a lower voice, even though there was no one to hear, she added, "Next time, just salute when you're on duty or bow when you're not. But thank you. You may go." He grinned and dashed off.

_And that's why I do this. For my people. _She sighed and went ashore.

At the bottom of the gangplank were the Southern Isles Minister for Foreign Affairs, a pair of Royal Guards in their blue and white dress uniforms, and a small girl almost hidden by an enormous bouquet of flowers. At the far end of the dock a crowd of onlookers holding Arendellan and Southern Isles flags were kept back by barricades, and a royal carriage waited for Elsa. It wasn't a huge reception, but then a lot of royals had been invited to the wedding.

The Minister bowed, displaying a large bald spot, and said, "Welcome to the Southern Isles, Your Majesty. His Majesty King Frederik looks forward to your arrival." He paused for a long, awkward moment. Then out of the side of his mouth he whispered, "Go ahead," to the blonde child.

The girl took an unsteady step forward and spoke in sing-song memorized Arendellan: "On behalf of the people of the Southern Isles we welcome you to our beautiful land. Please accept these flowers as a token of our amirdation. Ad-mir-a-tion." She curtseyed as well as she could while holding her burden, then held the bouquet stiff-armed in front of her.

Elsa bent down to take the flowers and said in lightly-accented Southlige, "Thank you for the lovely present, and for your very kind welcome." Then Elsa curtseyed back, to the confusion of the girl, the consternation of the Minister, and the cheers and laughter of the crowd. She smiled and waved as she walked to the enclosed carriage. Once inside, she sat back and remembered when she had done the same thing to Ingrid.

* * *

It had been weeks and weeks ago, well before Ingrid had left for the Southern Isles. Ingrid had been helping her prepare for bed: undressing her, folding her clothes, turning down the bed, being casually kissed and fondled.

Elsa stroked Ingrid's back. "Thank you, Ingrid. I think I'm ready for the night."

"I can return later tonight, if you wish." That was their euphemism.

"No thank you, I have a lot to do tomorrow. I need my sleep. You need yours, too."

"Oh, it's not a problem for me. I never sleep through the night."

"Never?" Elsa was taken aback.

"I wake up for about an hour, then go back to bed."

Elsa put her hand gently on Ingrid's arm. "Trouble sleeping? Something bothering you?"

"No. I've always been that way. My mother's mother was the same way when she got older." She watched Elsa's brow furrow, and longed to smooth it. "It's quite nice. Quiet. I had time to myself. And I could make sure everything was okay."

"You're sure?"

"Very sure."

"Then I'm glad it works for you, but I do need my sleep tonight. Now go." Elsa smiled fondly and shooed her away.

Ingrid paused at the door to turn and curtsey to her queen. "Good night, Your Majesty."

Elsa curtseyed back, deeply and gracefully. "Good night, Miss Andersen."

Ingrid's eyes widened, and her hands flew to her mouth to muffle the unstoppable string of giggles. Her face flushed with shock and delight. "Oh no, you mustn't!"

Elsa smiled teasingly. "Are you telling your queen what she mustn't do?"

She gasped, giggled some more, and the blush spread to her ears. "Oh, no, of course not. But you can't!"

"Can't I?" Elsa's smirk bloomed into an amused grin.

"Oh!" Ingrid's hands moved up to cover her face for a moment as she shuddered with giggles. "But a sovereign doesn't — that is, a sovereign _usually_ doesn't — curtsey to a commoner. Especially a servant."

"A curtsey is a gesture of respect, and I respect you," said Elsa. Ingrid's giggling had tapered off, but her hands were still to her mouth and her cheeks were still burning. "Besides, I don't think I've ever heard you laugh before. I like it." Elsa looked appraisingly at her. "You're adorable when you're flustered." Ingrid turned her face away. "I hope you don't mind."

"Mind? I…I don't know what I think."

"Now off to bed with you. You may be blessed with insomnia, but I need my sleep." Ingrid began to curtsey again, but Elsa stopped her. "No, you've had your quota for the evening."

Ingrid turned to go, then paused. "I can't go out like this." She indicated her still-red face. "People will talk."

Elsa nodded. "Hold on." She cooled her hands, then placed them to Ingrid's cheeks, her forehead, and her ears.

Ingrid sighed with pleasure and relief. "Thank you. Thank you very much."

The corner of Elsa's mouth quirked up. "My fault for getting you in a state, I suppose. Now off with you." She kissed Ingrid on the cheek, hustled her out the door, and went to bed.

* * *

Elsa smiled contentedly at the memory until the carriage pulled up the long, curving drive and stopped at the entrance to Kongenshjem Castle, reminding her that she didn't know where Ingrid was or what had happened to her. _If I only knew one way or the other, I could let it rest._

The driver opened the carriage door for her, and she stepped out onto the castle grounds. The castle was just outside the city of Elsingør on its own lands. It was larger than Elsa's, but surrounded by fields and forests as if it were a country estate. The king and his sons loved riding and hunting, and they didn't want to travel to do so, which is why he had moved the seat of government to what used to be the royal summer home. But it was the double line of Southern Isles guards in their unfamiliar uniforms, on either side of the walk from the carriage to the castle's doorway, that drove it home: _This is someone else's country._ She'd been too busy to think about it being her first time outside of Arendelle.

She walked up the half-dozen steps and was met by King Frederik. He was a big, solid man, even bigger than Kristoff. _Definitely not a fox. More of an Allemand Shepherd._ She nodded politely. "Good day, King Frederik. Thank you for inviting me to your lovely country for this joyous occasion."

His smile was framed by his neat beard of chestnut curls, laced with grey as his hair was, but his eyes remained guarded. He nodded back. "Good day, Queen Elsa, and thank you for coming. It's been too long since we've had visitors from Arendelle. Welcome." He waved an arm at the open doorway and they stepped inside.

As the doors thudded shut behind them he stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders. "Well, that's four down and two to go." He smiled at her conspiratorially. "And that's just heads of state. You'd think with seven sons married off so far it'd start to get easier." Elsa looked around the dark-beamed entrance hall discreetly. It was almost the size of her ballroom in Arendelle, and opened onto a hall nearly three times the size of that. He noticed. "Yes, it's a lot bigger than it needs to be. Damn hard to keep warm in the winter, too, not that you'd mind. Still. Beats being cooped up in the city." His manners had gone from formal to jovial. His eyes were still guarded. "So, I hear you curtsey to a little girl and not to me?"

"She's cuter than you are."

His laugh filled the hall, and warmth began to creep into his eyes. "Very good, very good. Now, may I get you anything?"

"It's been a long journey. I'd just like to go to my room and freshen up if you don't mind."

"Møller!" His chief of household staff, a balding man with the air of always being slightly rushed, came up to the king and bowed. "Her Majesty would like to go to her rooms now." Frederik turned to Elsa. "I'll be seeing you later, of course. Your Majesty." He nodded to her.

She nodded back. "Your Majesty." The king left her with Mr. Møller.

"Welcome to Kongenshjem Castle, Your Majesty." He bowed. "My staff is at your disposal. I'll have someone take you to your rooms." He waved a servant forward. A timid, skinny girl with lank hair came up and curtseyed. "Your Majesty, this is Ingrid. She speaks fluent Arendellan, and she's assigned to you personally. At your call, anytime." He paused. "Is something the matter, ma'am?"

"No, no. She just…startled me."

"She's a quiet one, ma'am. A rare virtue in female staff, if you ask me." Flustered as she was, Elsa still managed to raise an eyebrow at this familiarity. "My apologies, ma'am." He turned to the girl. "Ingrid, take Her Majesty to her rooms, and make sure she has everything she needs." He faced Elsa again. "If you'll excuse me, ma'am." He bowed and left.

* * *

A week and a half before, Commander Lund of the King's Men waited in his makeshift office for the suspect to be brought to him. He usually worked in town, in the offices of what was officially the Royal Discretionary Adjunct Force but was always called simply the King's Men. King Frederik wanted him and his officers close at hand. There would be delegations from over half a dozen countries coming to Prince Harald's wedding, and they all had their own agendas. Arendelle in particular was awkward. Attempted regicide, a year of sanctions that weren't good for either side's economy, and a queen who was still very much a mystery. He looked up from his papers, sipped his tepid coffee, and said, "Send her in, Skov." Sgt. Skov went to the hallway and brought in the suspect.

She was a skinny chambermaid, her thin hair pulled up into a knot on top of her head, eyes wide with terror. "You are…" He looked at his papers, as if he didn't already know. "…Miss Ingrid Andersen?" She curtseyed, then nodded. "Don't curtsey for me, girl, I work for a living. Now sit."

She sat in the straight-backed wooden chair in front of his desk, head down and arms pulled in as if she could make herself small enough not to be noticed. _This is a secret agent?_ He clenched and relaxed his broad fists._ I could pick her up with one hand like a bundle of kindling._

He slid a document across to her, frowning. "Recognize this?"

She slid her finger along the lines, mouthing the words as she read. She looked up. "Yes sir. It's a copy of the letter I wrote to Mrs. Vinterhavn. I'm sorry, sir." He looked a question at her. "I didn't know you needed a copy, sir. I could've made one."

He stared at her face. _Is she making a joke?_ But all he could read in her expression was equal parts sincerity and fear. "Who wrote this for you?"

"I wrote it myself, sir. My handwriting's very good, sir, if I don't rush."

He sighed impatiently. "All right, who dictated it to you?"

"N-no one, sir. Is there something wrong with it?"

He took it back. "You could say so." He looked it over. "Tell me about this story of yours, 'The White Cat And The Black Mouse'."

"It's the, um…" she muttered.

"What. Speak up, girl."

A little too loudly, she said, "It's 'The Beautiful White Cat And The Little Black Mouse,' sir." She dropped her voice again. "Sorry, sir. It's not important, sir."

"Oh, of course, 'The _Beautiful_ White Cat And The _Little_ Black Mouse'," he said, his sarcasm wasted on the girl. "Do you know why I find this story so interesting?"

She opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and opened again. "Because…it's based on the king and the princes and what they've been up to, sir?"

He felt like he'd been pushing a door open and someone had yanked it open from the other side. He had braced himself for at least a token denial. He hid his surprise behind a sip of coffee. "So. You confess, then."

"Yes, sir. I'm not very good at coming up with stories, sir. But I didn't want to disappoint young Miss Elsie. I do miss her. Sir."

Commander Lund had the uncomfortable feeling that he and Miss Andersen were on two different tracks. He decided to see if she was as stupid as she seemed, and gave her a chance to hang herself. "Why don't you tell me in your own words what happened?"

"Miss Elsie and I were very close, sir. Mrs. Vinterhavn had me sit in on her lessons so I could learn to read and write. Miss Elsie had a white toy cat that we played with, and she liked me to make up stories about her. The cat, I mean, sir. And for her birthday I made a little mouse out of scrap cloth, to keep the cat company. But I'm no good at making up stories, so I'd take things that happened in the household and make them into stories about the cat. Now I'm here in the castle so I have to make up stories about what's here."

"And how old is Miss Elsie?"

"Eight, sir."

"So you were playing with an eight year old girl?"

"Not all the time, sir."

"Of course not."

"She used to be seven, sir. And before that, six."

_Well, looks like we caught ourselves a real mastermind here. _"A little old to be playing with stuffed animals, aren't you?"

"Should I stop, sir? It's just Miss Elsie would be disappointed."

"If you were so happy in Arendelle why did you come to the Southern Isles?"

"It's my home, sir. I missed it. My family,, the places I grew up. No one in Arendelle can make rødgrød med fløde, sir. And when Mr. Vinterhavn passed, Mrs. Vinterhavn let some of us go."

"Hm." _Well, she's really a Southern Islander._ Only a native speaker could pronounce red groats with cream — _rødgrød med fløde —_ correctly. "Never mind that. Let's get back to the bedtime story. Each of the foxes is one of the princes, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"So, for instance, the one who thinks the king — I'm sorry, 'Reynard' — is too old and wants to rule himself. That's Prince Christian."

"He is? I'm sorry, sir. My mistake."

"Who did you think he was?"

"Prince Gerard, sir. I thought Prince Christian was the one who said 'attack' when the others said attack and 'make peace' when the others said that, sir."

"Hmm. You've been listening in on them?"

"I really, really try not to, sir. But I still have to listen in case they tell me to do something for them."

Lund made some notes, then turned the copy of the story so Ingrid could see it. "Why don't you run through this and tell me who's who." And they went over the list of fox princes, Ingrid decoding their names. When they were finished, he said, "I don't think we'll need you for anything more, here. But don't leave the castle grounds."

"No, sir. And would you like me to fetch you a fresh coffee, sir? Yours looks like it's not hot anymore."

"I could use that, actually. And tell Mr. Møller to see me. I may have a job for you."

After escorting Ingrid out of the room, Sgt. Skov had a question for his commander. "Sir, you're letting her go?"

"There's no way she's smart enough to be a spy. In fact, she looks a bit simple to me. But useful."

"Commander, how simple can she be if she can read _and_ write?"

"Well, that's it, you see. A woman's brain isn't built for that, especially someone of her class. That Mrs. Vinterhavn _thought_ she was doing the girl a favour. She may have damaged the girl's brain permanently. Still, the girl has good powers of observation. Like a parrot, really. She can repeat what she sees, but can't do anything with it. It's science."

"I see."

"Still, let's keep an eye on her."


	7. Strong Words And Gentle Voices

Her Majesty Queen Elsa of Arendelle smiled warmly if distantly and strode gracefully behind Ingrid to the suite that King Frederik had provided for her. Ingrid opened the door for her, followed inside, and closed it behind them.

Elsa turned on Ingrid. "You idiot!" she hissed. "What were you thinking?"

Suddenly terrified, Ingrid backed against the wall. "M-ma'am?"

"That letter! That damned letter! What on earth made you take that kind of risk?" Elsa stepped towards her. Ingrid's eyes were as wide as saucers. She opened her mouth to say something in her defense, but Elsa didn't give her a chance. "Did you think you were being clever? Did you think no one would notice what you had 'hidden' in that story?" Elsa's fingers flexed in agitation, snowflakes jumping like sparks from her fingertips. "Can you imagine what I thought when I read it? How scared I was? And then, nothing else for two weeks? _Aaugh!_" Elsa turned away in frustration.

Lower lip trembling, Ingrid squeaked out, "I…didn't know what else to do, ma'am."

"How about nothing? How about not risking exposure and putting yourself in danger?" Elsa paced, looking for somewhere she could discharge the energy flowing through her. "If you find yourself in a situation where you know your letters are being intercepted and examined for messages, and you're writing _to Arendelle_, and you're in the middle of the seat of power of the Southern Isles, you might consider _not sending the letter._"

Ingrid's lips moved, trying to form words. She tasted salt as tears ran down to the corners of her mouth. Finally she murmured, "…please…"

Elsa's mouth dropped open in shock. The fear in Ingrid's face was more than echoed in her own. Her hands flew to her mouth, she stood bolt upright, and shuffled backwards away from Ingrid. "Oh no. Oh, dear God." She bumped against a low couch and half-sat, half-fell into it. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she whimpered over and over as she pulled her feet up and curled at one end of the couch. "I just…I have no idea where that came from. I'm so very sorry, Ingrid. I didn't mean it. I'm so ashamed of myself. I don't know what happened." She breathed deeply, trying not to cry.

Ingrid, torn apart between fear and concern, crept cautiously towards her queen, bending down to keep her head below Elsa's. "Your M-majesty?" she said softly. Elsa didn't respond. Ingrid finally reached the couch and sat at Elsa's feet, looking up at her, waiting patiently.

Elsa reached out a hand to touch Ingrid's head. "I apologize, Ingrid, I really do. I don't know what came over me."

"_I_ apologize, ma'am. I'm sorry for making you angry and letting you down."

"I never should have been angry at you. I certainly never should have scared you like that. You know I'd never hurt you, right?" Ingrid nodded bravely. "I've been worried about you for weeks, and it's all my fault, but I couldn't give in to it until I knew if you were all right. Or not. And then it all came out at once, but all mixed up, too. I wasn't really angry at you. I'm angry at myself for putting you in this spot. It's just…" Elsa smiled weakly, pleading. "Taking care of yourself has to come first, before any 'mission', okay? Ingrid?"

"Yes'm?"

"Don't you know how I would've felt if something had happened to you? If you were jailed, or hurt, or beaten…"

"You would…be disappointed in me?"

"No! I would've been distraught. Devastated. The idea that I could've done that to you, it's too much to bear. I took my fear out on you, and I'm sorry."

"Begging your pardon, but you keep talking as if it was all your doing. I volunteered. I insisted on it. And everything I did, I did on my own."

"But I could've stopped you. With a word. Or a stern look. You're my responsibility. I should've known better."

"No one can know everything or control everything, not even you." Ingrid smiled up at Elsa, and she smiled back weakly. Ingrid swallowed, and went on. "Now, I haven't asked you for very much before."

"I don't think you've asked me for anything before. Not even to pass the honey for your tea."

"If I may, I'd like to ask a favour of you."

"Oh, Ingrid, of course I forgiv— "

"Blame me."

"What?"

"Please, blame me. Don't blame yourself. I blame myself already, so it wouldn't change anything. Please, let me take responsibility for this."

Elsa put her face in her hands. "Oh, I never should have let you come. I never should've had the idea in the first place. I never should've agreed to come here."

They sat quietly for a moment. "I, um, I'd like to ask you some questions, if I may."

Distracted by curiosity, Elsa sat up again. "Go ahead."

"With respect, this remorse you feel. Can it change what's happened?"

"No, of course not."

"Is there a lesson that you haven't learned from this already?"

Elsa laughed mirthlessly at herself. "No."

"Does it make you feel better?"

Elsa shook her head. "God, no."

"Then, begging your pardon, what's it _for?_"

Startled, speechless, Elsa paused, chuckled in surprise, then laughed. "What's it for? I have no idea!" She dabbed her eyes on a handkerchief. "Not a damn thing, evidently." She took a deep breath and sighed. "So what do I do now? Ignore it?"

"I don't think that would work. Darkness is real. There's no sense pretending it isn't. But light is real, too. It always is. Personally, when given a choice, I'd face the light. Not that I would presume to say what you should do, of course."

Elsa smiled and petted Ingrid's head. "How did you get to be so wise?"

"I don't mean to disagree, but I'm not wise. I'm just repeating what my brother Anders used to say. He knew his time was limited and he didn't want to waste it on bad feelings he didn't need."

"His time was…limited."

"Then again, so is mine, or yours, or anyone's, really." Ingrid stared at nothing. "If I'm wise, I was just wise enough to pay attention."

Elsa clapped her hands together and changed the subject. "Well." She patted the couch next to herself, inviting Ingrid up. "Now tell me what happened, and how you managed to become my personal servant here."

Elsa listened as Ingrid told her about the interrogation with Commander Lund. Elsa was serious and concerned at the beginning, but by the end she was chuckling at his cluelessness. "But how did you know what he was thinking about you?"

"When I reached over to take his coffee I read the notes on his desk. Since he saw me moving my lips and following my finger, he assumed I couldn't read quickly or silently. It's useful."

Elsa smiled proudly at her. "And how did you manage…" She waved her hand at the room. "…this?"

"He assumed I was too stupid to be a spy on my own, but that under his supervision he could use me to spy on, well, on the visiting Queen Elsa of Arendelle."

Elsa burst out laughing. "So you've graduated from 'spy' to 'double agent'. Congratulations! I never should've doubted you."

"Oh no, you were quite right to doubt me. It ended well, but it could've gone very badly. However, you may not have been right to doubt yourself." Elsa was about to reply when Ingrid rapidly added, "And speaking as your personal servant in Kongenshjem Castle, I'm to tell you that His Majesty would welcome the pleasure of your company for dinner at seven o'clock this evening, and requests a reply."

"Tell him I'll be there. And when you're done, come back and…help me settle in?" Elsa looked at her hopefully.

"Of course, Your Majesty. It would be my pleasure." And Ingrid's smile confirmed that it would be.

* * *

Anna sat at a little wrought-iron table in a little café, not far from the castle, sipping tea and nibbling at bite-sized cakes. The sheer curtains on the window behind her filtered the sunlight into a halo around her. Kristoff looked at her, at how delicate and adorable she looked, and felt warmth spreading through his chest.

And along one thigh.

"_Oh, perk_— Uh, that is, 'oh darn'. Sorry." He had knocked his teacup onto himself, and the dainty napkin covering his lap like a postage stamp on a letter was no match for it. He put the cup back on the table, knocking the silverware onto the floor. As he bent to retrieve it, his shoulder bumped a dish of cakes off the table. He caught them expertly, sat up, and opened his fist to discover that he was now holding a squished ball of icing and crumbs. He sighed, "Oh, per— ," and stopped himself again.

Anna leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "_Perkele_, right? It's okay to say it. After all, you did pick it up from me. I don't think anyone here speaks Finlandic anyway."

"I'm sorry, Anna. This was supposed to be nice for you." He sat on the tiny chair, his knees apart so as not to jostle the table, looking like a bear on a tricycle. "I… I just don't fit."

Anna frowned, and muttered, "I know that feeling." She sat up and waved the waitress over to them. "Could we have a few more napkins here, Hildy? Maybe a towel. Or two."

As Hilda left for the kitchen, Kristoff leaned forward carefully. "What did you mean by, 'I know the feeling'?"

"It's me and the councillors. Sorry, _the councillors and I_." She rolled her eyes. "And I have to see them later today. I just… They're mean."

"Mean? To you?" His muscles flexed automatically at the urge to get up and straighten them out.

Hilda had returned with the cloths, and Anna had scooted around to clean up Kristoff. "Whoa, hang on there. I mean, they weren't _mean_, mean. They were more rude."

"What did they do? Did they say anything?"

"Well no, that's the problem." She dried his leg and cleaned off his hand as she talked. "They don't come out and do anything I could catch them at. But they all talk around me like I'm not there. I push myself in and take control of the meeting and things get better for a minute, then I hit something I need a reminder of and they all act like they have to walk me through everything. I understand all the stuff just fine, I just don't always recognize it right away." She wadded up the towels and dropped them on the table. "They didn't treat Elsa like that."

Kristoff nodded. He understood.

"The problem is, Kristoff, is that I don't loom."

"You don't what now?"

"Loom. I don't loom. You know, like looming over people. Like you, if someone gives you a hard time you can just get up close to them and loom over them, and they respect you 'cause you're big. Remember Oaken? Now _there_ was a loomer. And Elsa could loom, too, even though she's the same size as me. She can just put on her queen-face and look at someone twice her height, and still loom over them. I can't." She shrugged. "I'm not a loomer."

"Hey, I could come along and loom on your behalf."

"No, that wouldn't work."

"Y'know, I think I'd like the chance to do that." Kristoff clenched his fists meaningfully.

"No, I can't have you fight my battles for me."

Kristoff sat back, carefully. "Yeah. Besides, you have people to do that for you."

"I what?"

He shook his head. "The army. You know, because you're Regent? And they fight actual battles? Never mind, it was a stupid joke, just forget it."

But Anna was already thinking.

* * *

The councillors were seated around the meeting table as Anna entered Elsa's — _no, the Regent's_ — outer office. "Gentlemen."

They stood up raggedly, most of them only three-quarters up, and began to sit down again.

_Bam_. Anna smacked the table. "Gentlemen?" She made an up-and-down gesture with her finger, and waited for them to stand up completely. She seated herself, and said, "And _now_ you may sit down." She turned to the doorway. "Gunther?"

She faced the councillors. "This is Gunther." A pale, chubby young man entered, his neck red from where Anna insisted he shave, and sat to Anna's right. "He's a promising young law clerk from the Royal Courts, and has quite a knowledge of our laws and regulations."

"And what do you need him for?" asked the Councillor of the Exchequer.

"Oh, he's just here to remind me of stuff."

Gunther raised an arm straight up.

"You don't have to raise your hand, Gunther. Just jump in when you need to."

"Oh. Okay. Anyway, I looked over the agenda? And the other agendas? And this, this, and this," he said, pointing to items on the sheet, "are all stuff that's been in meetings already."

"Really. And what happened before?"

"Queen Elsa turned them all down."

"Oh, so somebody figured 'If I can't get it past the Queen I'll see if I can slip it by silly old Anna, right?" Gunther shrugged. Anna picked up her pen. "I." _skritch_ "Don't." _skritch_ "Think so." _skritch_. She had crossed the items off the agenda.

The Councillor for Schools and Orphanages leaned forward. "Is this really necessary? And in keeping with the decorum of the Royal Council?"

Anna turned to the door again. "Boys?" Two large men in dress uniforms of the Royal Guard entered. "I almost forgot. Gentlemen, this is Stors, and this is Kile. They're my bodyguards." They stood — that is, _loomed_ — behind Anna's chair. "And I think you meant, 'Is this really necessary, _ma'am?_' Right?"

"Uh, yes." Schools and Orphanages swallowed nervously. "Yes, ma'am, that is."

"And no, they're not necessary. At least, I hope not. Still, you never know when you need to quell unrest." She looked up at them. "You boys are good at quelling unrest, aren't you?'

"Yes, ma'am," said Stors.

"The best, ma'am," said Kile.

"Excellent." She smiled at the Councillors. "Now let's get to work."


	8. Dinner And Drinks

After Prince Harald's wedding there would be the huge banquet for everyone, or at least everyone who was anyone. Before the wedding there would be the merely large banquet for the visiting dignitaries and heads of state. But tonight had been a small dinner for a couple of guests who King Frederik hadn't had a chance to talk with: just Elsa and the two members from the Moorish Caliphate. To Elsa's right King Frederik sat at the head of the table. To her left was Caliph Faruq, his dark skin and angular features set off by his dazzlingly white turban. Across from her sat the Caliph's secretary and assistant, a woman named Najwah, only her beautiful dark eyes visible through the black veil and headscarf she wore.

They had just finished a dessert of ice cream sculpted into the crest of the Southern Isles. Faruq smiled, a little roguishly, at Elsa. "Do we have Arendelle to thank for this dessert?"

"We have all the ice we need, thank you," said Frederik. "And we stock the royal ice-house the old-fashioned way."

"As do we," responded Elsa.

Faruq looked mock-sad. "You don't just…?" and waved his hand in a parody of conjuring. "Why ever not?"

"I suspect for the same reason that King Frederik doesn't spend his day delivering deer carcases to his citizens. He's a skilled hunter, but he's more use as a sovereign." He nodded acknowledgement to Elsa. "And I'd rather be treated as a queen than as…"

"A curiosity?" added Najwah. Elsa nodded. "I understand." A look of recognition passed between them.

Faruq turned to Najwah and said, "الجني لا يترك أجرباه."

"I'm sorry," said Elsa, smiling sweetly at Faruq. "My grasp of your language is still weak. What does 'The genie does not leave Agrabah' mean?" She glanced at Najwah, and saw a glint of amusement in those dark eyes.

He covered his surprise with a brave grin. "It simply means that fantastic reports from distant lands tend to…become more fantastic as they become more distant. That the stories about Your Majesty may be more dramatic and less accurate that you deserve." He sipped his water. "You choose to reserve your talents for your own people, so I am understanding, if disappointed. But if you were to visit the Caliphate, and your powers are everything they say, well, let's just say that ice is as rare in my country as silk and spices are in yours."

_So that's his game. _Elsa pondered. As much as she wanted to be more than a human ice factory, a shipload of trade goods from the East would be a boost to the suffering economy of Arendelle. On the other hand, it would mean a longer separation from Anna. She missed Anna already.

"Is something the matter, Your Majesty?" asked Najwah.

Elsa looked up, startled. "I was thinking about the Caliph's kind offer, and how homesick I would feel so far from…" _Anna_ "…Arendelle."

"Well, a question for another time, then," said King Frederik. "For now, it's time brandy and cigars. Will you join us, Elsa?"

"I suppose so."

"Faruq? Najwah?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty," said Faruq, "but our faith prohibits the consumption of alcohol. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow."

They stood, and the Moorish delegation bid their farewells for the evening.

"Just the two of us, then," said Frederik.

"Yes." She followed him to the next room, a lounge with comfortable leather armchairs, low tables, and walls decorated with a couple of portraits and with weapons of the distant and recent past. He offered her brandy, took some for himself, and they sat facing each other. Elsa looked at him over her glass. "Odd that you could arrange a dinner that meets their dietary strictures, but forget about the alcohol."

He made a tiny shrug, not exactly a confession or a denial. They looked at each other for a long, serious moment. Finally, he said, "Well, you haven't tried to kill me yet."

Elsa hid most of her surprise. "And you haven't tried to kill _me_ yet. Why would I want to do that?"

"Because of Hans, of course. Technically, he committed an act of war. _Technically._ And all he suffered was exile to Faroe Island. People have sought revenge for less. Also, without us and without Weselton, your country is even less well-off than usual. Nothing like a war to get the economy pumped up."

"I think the lives of my people are worth more than that."

"I wish you had killed him. Had him executed, I mean. Save us both some trouble."

She hid her expression behind her glass. "You don't really mean that."

"He made us look bad. He took a stupid risk and he failed. I can't accept failure. But I can't very well have a prince executed, or imprisoned." He inhaled the brandy vapour, then sipped. "Not that it wouldn't keep a few of his brothers on their toes," he added under his breath.

"He is your son."

"See that portrait?" He waved at a portrait of a beautiful woman with auburn wavy hair, smiling warmly.

"Of course. Queen Margarethe."

"Died in childbirth. I lost the love of my life, and gained a useless little shit."

Elsa swallowed her brandy and didn't interrupt.

He went on. "I had high hopes for him. Never liked him, but I could see he was clever, and smooth. Thought he could make something of himself that way. Didn't fit in with his brothers. Didn't like hunting, didn't like sports. Did what he had to do to win, but never got into the spirit of it. You know, we never talked about it, but a lot of the boys blamed him for losing their mother, once they were old enough to put two and two together. When the triplets figured it out they couldn't bear to talk to him for two years. Poor boys. Can't blame them for missing her."

She stepped carefully. "Do you think any of them liked Hans enough to…support him?"

He looked at her, narrowed his eyes. "Maybe."

She met his gaze. "And…you?"

He wasn't the sort to be insulted by that. "No. Absolutely not. I think it would be a good thing if Arendelle and the Southern Isles were closer together again. Under the right conditions."

This backed up Ingrid's reports. He wanted something, but not conquering or revenge. "I'm glad to hear it. What would be the right conditions?"

"Top up your drink?" She shook her head, and he poured some more brandy into his glass. "I enjoyed having you for dinner tonight. You're very mature. Wise beyond your years. And you don't miss much. I like that."

She looked at him a little sideways. "You're very kind."

"You get it. You understand what wearing a crown really means. Not a lot of people get it. Especially women. Margarethe got it. I could talk to Margarethe." He took another swallow of brandy.

Elsa started to have doubts about where the conversation was going.

"Elsa. This embargo between us. It's not good for us, but it's worse for Arendelle. With our wealth and your resources we could do great things for both countries. But without, I'm afraid even your clever programs won't stop Arendelle from eventual decline. An alliance between our families would be in your best interest."

It wasn't just the excellent brandy making her cheeks feel warm. "You want me to marry one of your sons."

"No. Not my sons. No."

The not-quite-spoken proposal hung in the air between them.

Finally, Elsa said, "Are you asking me to…marry you?"

"I'm still in good shape. Solid. I'm not cruel, or vulgar. And I wouldn't have to impose on you in the bedroom too much. I'd have my mistresses, and you could have whatever boys you wanted as long as you were discreet about it. I'd rather lie with you, frankly, but it's not a deal-breaker. I just…miss having a good woman to talk to, since Margarethe. That's what I want."

She was repelled, but still couldn't resist a little sympathy for the lonely man.

"And if I decline?"

"No restoration of political relations, and belts in Arendelle get gradually tighter."

"That sounds a little like blackmail."

"We call it 'negotiation' in these circles. You're still new to politics. This is the way things are done." He watched her processing what he'd said. "No decision right away, of course. Think about it."

She stood. "I think I have to go back to my room now."

"Of course. We can talk after the banquet tomorrow." They made their farewells and he returned to his chair, glass, decanter, and the portrait of his late queen.


	9. Unwelcome Guests

Anna had just started that morning's cabinet meeting when Kristoff burst in.

"Anna! I have—"

Stors and Kile immediately put themselves between the princess and the ice-cutter, ready to take him down.

"Boys, boys, at ease! It's okay, he's with me." Anna stood, and walked around the guardsmen to Kristoff. "What is it?"

He took a moment to catch his breath. "Okay. I got here as fast as I could. Now, I was doing some deliveries northeast of Baldur's Pass when Sven heard something suspicious. I figured he was just spooked by a squirrel or something, but he was really insistent, so we cut off the road—"

"Short version, Kristoff."

"Soldiers. About a day's march from the border."

"What?" She turned to the Councillor for Defense Of The Realm. "Do we have anyone up there? Maybe somebody wandered off?"

As Defense Of The Realm shook his head, Kristoff said, "They didn't look like ours. And they didn't look happy."

Anna clung to his arm. "Did they see you? Are you okay?"

He made a show of bravery. "Hey, if I can avoid bears, wild boars, and wolves — _usually_ wolves — I can avoid some stupid soldiers." He turned to Defense Of The Realm. "No offense."

"None taken," he replied flatly.

The Councillor of the Exchequer intruded. "Are we really going to pay any attention to this Sam…" Anna glared at him. "…ple of rugged individualism?"

"One, I believe him. Two, if there's a _hint_ of troops near the border, we have to take it seriously. Third, well…I believe him." She moved back to the table, but didn't sit down. "Defense Of The Realm, start rounding up the reserves. Oh, and get us maps and stuff. Of Baldur's Pass and all that area. Exchequer, I need to know how much cash we can get our hands on right now, in a week, and in a month."

Gunther self-consciously put his hand up, then self-consciously put it down again. "Um, I'm not sure what stuff you need to buy, but the crown can seize and appropriate supplies as needed during a military emergency or conflict."

"Good to know. I'd rather not, but we've got that to fall back on. So. You there, Trees And Rocks."

"That's 'Farms, Forests, And Mines,' ma'am."

"Whatever. How fast can you get in touch with all the lumberjacks and ice-masters along the border? No, never mind how fast, just get fast. See who else saw what, and where. Schools And Orphanages, make some contingency plans." She lost her momentum. "We, uh, we may wind up with a few more orphans."

Kristoff stepped forward and put a gentle hand on her arm. "Anna?"

She sprang back to action. "Right! Kristoff, go to my study." She pointed to Elsa's study. "Write down every single thing you can remember about what you and Sven saw. Every detail."

He nodded, then leaned in and whispered, "Thing is, it'll all be in troll runes. I can read Arendellan just fine, but I'm not so good at writing it."

"That's okay," she whispered back. "I just want to make sure it's all on paper while your mind's clear. I mean, it's clear in your mind." She spoke up again. "Stors. While he's working, guard the door. No one disturbs him 'til he's done. No knocking, shouting, or walking heavy permitted. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." He closed the door behind Kristoff and planted himself in front of it.

"Okay, the rest of you? Go…do something useful. We meet back here in an hour. No, half an hour. And someone send for tea. Strong tea. And coffee. Now go."

"And you, ma'am?" asked the Councillor of State.

"I have to go look up a book."

* * *

The Councillor for Defense Of The Realm, Anna, Kristoff, and most of the councillors were hovering over the big oak table, which was covered with a map of the border area, piles of notes, half-filled cups of tea and coffee, and a book, bristling with bookmarks, that Anna referred to every couple of minutes. She had kept them hopping with orders and questions, half of which were surprisingly insightful and half seeming to come out of nowhere. "Where did you get that book you keep looking at?" asked Defense Of The Realm.

"Oh. When I was little I had this thing about Joan of Arc, so when I found a book in French called _Art of War_, I figured it'd have lots of pictures of her I could copy. Turns out it's a translation of a Chinese book that's sort of a beginner's manual of how to run an army. There's some really neat ideas in it."

"With respect, ma'am, you and…" He read the cover. "Mr. Suntsu have some clever ideas, but you can't learn about war from books."

"With respect, Councillor, I'm willing to spend twenty years commanding troops until I'm as experienced as you are, if you can talk those other guys into waiting that long. Meanwhile I have my book, you have your experience, I have the crown, and _we_ have a country to defend. Now do you have any ideas that don't involve lots of people being killed?"

"Ma'am, that's just the way war works."

"Not if I can help it."

The other councillors had casually backed away from the table. Kristoff was ready to step in, but he wasn't sure how. Defense Of The Realm rubbed his eyes. "I hope your idea works, I really do. I just want to know what to do if it doesn't."

"You do what you do. You round up every able-bodied male, put weapons in their hands, and fight. That is why we have mandatory military training, after all."

"Yes, six weeks training once you turn eighteen. Enough time to learn which end of the crossbow points away from you."

Anna sighed. "Sit down." She flopped in her chair, he sat in his. She gulped half a cup of strong, tepid tea. "I know you know what you're doing. I'm counting on it. And five-hundred trained mercenaries versus however many of our people…well, I take that seriously. But I can't not try to…I mean, I have to try to…well, I have to do this. I have to try."

He nodded. "I know it doesn't sound that way, but there's nothing I want to avoid more than fighting. Except losing."

"Okay then." She turned to Gunther. "How are we doing on supplies?"

"We're on track for wood, canvas, paint, and we have a line on those wagons you wanted."

"Big ones."

"Biggest we can find."

"Right. Well…" She looked at the ceiling. "I'm too tired to think. You guys…" She waved at the men surrounding her. "Finish up what you can, then get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow." She hoisted herself out of her chair, waved away offers of assistance, and left.

* * *

"Oh, Joan, I used to look up to you so much." Anna was lying on a settee and looking up at a painting of Joan of Arc. "Well, literally of course, 'cause you're up there on the wall. But look at you! You're so fierce and confident, riding into battle, holding that sword up like you're about to whack somebody with it. I always wanted to be like you. You're so strong and brave, and I…well, I never was. I just wanted to be."

Anna sighed deeply. "But you're going to a war! With killing people! How can you do that, and not be freaked out? When I was little I used to think it was so glamorous…well, not glamorous, more like cool-looking and awesome. But it's not! War is…deciding who I want to send to be killed, so I can kill some other people, so they can't kill any of my people. I mean, I have a plan, but I'm not sure, and if I'm wrong then, well, you know. More…people…and it's my fault…"

Anna started to sniffle. "It's not fun! It's horrible!" She blinked away the tears that started to form. "It's horrible. I don't want to do this. Oh God, I hope it turns out okay." She looked up at Joan's firm expression and her eyes narrowed. "Yeah, God. Must be nice, having God make your decisions for you. 'Are you sure?' 'Well, God said so.' 'Okay then.' I have to do this _myself_. And, I mean I know what I have to do. Sort of. Not exactly, but I know I have to stand up for my country. Arendelle's not going down on _my_ watch."

Anna's head dropped back and she closed her eyes. "Or, yeah, maybe not. I could give myself up. That's what they want, right? And nobody has to get killed. Besides, when Elsa comes back she can, I don't know, freeze 'em out, or make an army of snowmen or something, and take the place back. Right?" She looked up at Joan again. "Yeah, just fail at my job and dump everything on Elsa. Like _she_ deserves this."

Anna put her hands over her face. "Oh God, I'm blathering. I'm just lying here blathering to a painting. I'm supposed to be leading my people and I'm lying here bl— what's another word for 'blathering', Joan?" She scoffed. "Like _you'd_ know. You speak French."

"That's a lousy way to keep a secret," said a voice behind her.

Startled, Anna rolled over to see who it was, fell off the settee and landed with a thud. She looked up. "Kristoff?"

"You tell Joan, she tells the other paintings, next thing you know everybody's talking."

"Oh, perkele. How much did you hear, Kristoff?"

He walked over to her. "Enough to know you think you have to do this alone. And that you're working yourself up. And that you're worn out. Now come on, let's get you in bed. Sleep, I mean. Let's get you to sleep." He offered his arm to her, and when she grabbed on he hoisted her easily to her feet.

"What did you mean, I _think_ I'm alone?" She gripped his arm, supporting herself as he led her to her rooms.

"We're all here for you. _I'm_ here for you." He smiled comfortingly at her. "And it's all going to turn out okay."

She almost said _How would you know? _But she felt stronger, holding on to his arm, and she needed all the strength she could get.

"And if it doesn't turn out okay," he continued, "we'll _make_ it okay."

_And how many bodies will that take?_ She kept her thoughts to herself and smiled back at him. "Yeah, Kristoff. Yeah, we will."


	10. Dreams And Wishes

Elsa sat in her nightgown at the unfamiliar vanity as Ingrid stood behind her, unbraiding and brushing out her hair. "Thank you, Ingrid. That's very soothing."

"My pleasure." In the mirror, Elsa saw Ingrid's serene smile as she gently stroked and brushed Elsa's thick blonde hair.

Elsa saw her own face, the furrow between her brows, the flat line of her mouth. "Maybe it's the brandy, maybe I'm just tired, but I'm actually considering King Frederik's offer."

Ingrid paused, but didn't say anything.

"It'd be good for Arendelle."

Ingrid went back to brushing Elsa's hair, but her smile was gone.

"It wouldn't be so bad, all things considered."

Nothing.

"I could…get used to it."

Nothing.

"It would put an end to the…uncomfortable speculation."

Nothing.

"Of course, I'm sure he wants my resources more than he wants my company."

Ingrid shook her head to herself.

"Ingrid?"

"You're very intelligent and very beautiful. Anyone would be honoured to share your company."

Once again, Ingrid's serious expression stopped Elsa from saying something flippant. "Thank you. But what do you think?"

"It's not my place to say."

"It is if I ask you."

"I think…Arendelle would miss you."

"Well, _you_ wouldn't have to miss me. He said I could have any lovers I want, as long as I was discreet."

Ingrid's mouth worked silently for a moment. She finally said, "I would be joyful beyond words. But only if you were happy. And I believe you wouldn't be. Not without Anna."

The light dimmed in Elsa's eyes. "Anna. I'd miss her."

"She'd miss you, too. Very much."

Elsa sighed. "And I can't leave her carrying my burden."

Ingrid brushed silently for a while. "If I might make an observation."

Elsa looked up at her in the mirror. "Yes?"

"Begging your pardon, but perhaps King Frederik would be more forthcoming if I told Commander Lund you were considering using your…rare talents."

"I don't think 'considering' would convince him."

"Then, perhaps, a demonstration?"

"Freeze one of his ports?"

"Briefly."

"That's not who I am, Ingrid. That's not who I want to be. It's bad enough people look at me like some sort of parlor conjuror. I don't want to be an unexploded bomb. You know what happens to unexploded bombs."

Ingrid shook her head.

"They get defused."

"Oh. Of course. I apologize. I was only trying to help."

"It's all right, Ingrid. It's not as if I hadn't thought about it myself."

Ingrid smoothed Elsa's hair one last time, and put the brush on the vanity. She stood, hands folded in front of her, head down. She worked up her courage and quietly said, "Mm, Elsa?"

Elsa turned to face her. "What is it?"

"I, um. It seems to me that tonight…that is, there's nothing you can do about these issues until the morning. And dwelling on them will…um… You need your rest. And I think it would be good for you if you were relaxed and happy tonight. And, by your leave, if you were willing, I thought I might…help…"

Elsa smiled proudly and wickedly at her. For Ingrid, this was incredibly bold. She stood, and stepped towards her. "Ingrid! Did you have something in mind?"

Ingrid blushed, and covered her face in her hands. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm being much too forward."

Elsa smirked. "Good." She gently pulled Ingrid's hands away from her face, and tenderly kissed her. "I like it. It makes me feel desired." Ingrid gasped and sputtered. Elsa put a finger to Ingrid's lips. "You know I can't kiss you if you keep doing that." She held Ingrid close and kissed her again, more firmly. _She's so soft and thin. She feels like a kitten._

Wordlessly, Ingrid undressed Elsa and led her to the bed. She laid her down, undressed herself down to a silk slip, then slid in beside her, propped up on one elbow. "I'd…" _She wants me to be forward._ "I'd like you to close your eyes, please." Elsa did. "Now I'd like you to think of Anna."

Elsa opened her eyes and looked at her. "Please," said Ingrid, and stroked her hair.

Elsa nodded, and closed her eyes.

"Now say her name."

Elsa's eyes opened again. "Ingrid, it's…awkward. I don't know if I can do that. Not deliberately."

"Please. For tonight. For me. Please." Ingrid was terrified and thrilled at her own boldness.

"Very well." Elsa lay back, closed her eyes, and said, "Anna," as if she was reading it off a chart. She looked at Ingrid again. "I know what you have in mind, but…" She smiled sheepishly.

"I'd like to try an experiment, if I may." Ingrid made a blindfold out of two handkerchiefs, comfortable but opaque.

"Are you sure?" asked Elsa.

"Yes. By your leave, of course. It'll help you be…" She searched for the word. "…unselfconscious."

Elsa consented to be blindfolded, and laid back against the pillows. She felt gentle stroking, and heard a soft voice saying, "Now think of Anna. How beautiful she is, how much you love her. How much she loves you."

Unable to look around, hidden by the curtain across her eyes, Elsa pictured her sister's warm smile, her luminous blue-green eyes, her soft skin with its blessing of freckles.

"Now say her name."

"Anna." This time Elsa said it sweetly and reverently.

Elsa felt something brush against her face. "Now inhale."

Elsa took a deep breath, and her mind was filled with the scent and presence of Anna. "How did you—"

"Sh sh sh. That's not important. Inhale again, please."

Elsa breathed deeply through her nose, then exhaled with a soft moan. The musk of Anna filled her senses, her mind. Her head swam with images and impressions, memories of the sight, the touch, the presence of Anna. Even images from when Anna tried to seduce her, now divorced from the pain, now pure beauty, glowed behind her eyes.

"Say her name."

Elsa didn't need any coaching. "Anna," she moaned. Soft warm hands stroked her, smoothing her arms, breasts, belly, thighs, stroking her like a cat. "Mmmm." Fingertips teased one of her nipples, then slid tantalizingly away. She grasped the hand and brought it back to her breast. She felt lips and gentle teeth close on her other breast as the hand escaped again, only to find a home between her thighs, cupping her gently, pressing rhythmically.

"I want you to think back to the time on the balcony, the first time you kissed Anna."

"No, I can't do that."

"I'm sorry. It was a hot summer's night."

"No, I can't."

"She was lying on the chaise, wearing a silk slip."

"Please, no."

"Inhale."

Without thinking Elsa inhaled, and was drugged by Anna's scent. Suddenly the scene was vivid in front of her. The sweat evaporating from Anna's forehead, the silk-draped landscape of her body, the goosebumps on her arms. "No," she mewed.

"You are my queen, and I shall do as you command. But before I do, please tell me. Do you really want me to stop now?"

Her traitorous thighs closed on the hand between them. "…no…"

"Very well. If you _command_ me to stop, I will. Otherwise I'll carry on. Do you agree?"

"Yes." _Thank God I'm not negotiating a treaty right now, I'd be helpless._ The stray thought made her giggle.

"Now tell me what happened." If there was the least bit of pressure in that voice Elsa could have pushed against it. If there had been pleading Elsa could've denied it. But it was the gentle voice of nurseries and sickbeds, comforting and caring. She couldn't help but obey.

"She was lying next to me, the way we used to cuddle when we were children." Elsa felt the soft pressure of a body pressed against hers. "I watched her sink halfway into sleep, and I thought — I remember this as clearly as yesterday — I thought, 'I could slip the straps off her shoulders, slide down her slip, and take her breast in my mouth. As easily as that.' It was so vivid."

"Show me what you mean."

Elsa found the strap by touch, slid it down, and in a gracefully casual movement bent her head and took the exposed nipple between her lips. She drew it into her mouth, sucked at it, and heard a moan. She answered in kind.

She freed her mouth and said, "I didn't do that, of course."

"Show me what you did."

Elsa cuddled closer, her thigh crossing hips, her hand resting below breasts. "I said, 'Do you love me, Anna?' "

"I love you."

"…_with all my heart…_" whispered Elsa.

"I love you with all my heart."

" 'Will you stay with me, no matter what?' "

"No matter what."

" 'Will you never leave me?' "

"Never." A pause. "Never ever."

"And then…" Elsa began to tense up.

"It's all right. Everything's all right. Show me what happened."

"I said, 'I love you, Anna. I love you with all my heart.' And then…" Elsa took a breath, let it go in a shuddering exhale. " 'I love you with all my heart.' " She dotted soft kisses on forehead, chin, cheek, nose-tip, and lips. She paused, then returned to the lips, kissing with tentative passion. Her tongue was welcomed by softly yielding lips, and she explored the tastes and textures of that mouth. She was met with equal passion. A hand laid gently on her hair and cradled her head, holding her in the kiss. A moan purred in Elsa's throat, and behind the blindfold her eyes rolled back for a moment.

She pulled back to breathe and heard a whispery voice. "I love you, Elsa. I love you very much."

"I love you, Anna." She returned to the kiss, gently stroked the cheek and curled around to cup the nape of the neck. She moaned again, more like a growl, and pressed herself against the body beneath her. She kissed shoulders, neck, and worked her way down, as if she was starving and could feed herself with kisses. She lay her head between breasts, held her close. "I love you, Anna. You are my world, my everything."

"I love you, Elsa. You are my universe. All I want is to be with you. I love you with all my heart, with every part of me. I would stay with you no matter what, and never ever leave you. I think I've loved you since before I met you."

Lost in her reverie, Elsa was confused. "Met me?"

"Since…since ever. I can't think of a time I haven't loved you."

One arm held Elsa close, the other stroked her back. Under those comforting arms Elsa moved her kisses steadily downwards.

* * *

Much later, Ingrid returned with washcloths and towels. "Welcome back," said Elsa. She cast a chill breeze across them both to dry their sweat. As Ingrid began cleaning her, she said, "Never mind that for now. Just lie here a while. I don't know about you, but I need to get my breath back."

"Thank you." She cuddled next to her queen.

"Well. That was…" Elsa smirked at her. "…interesting. And out of character for you."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it was good."

"You did say you wanted me to be forward."

Elsa pecked her cheek. "You certainly were." She paused. "You did wash that hand, of course."

"Of course. Thoroughly."

"When you put that finger…there…where I wasn't expecting…and then…"

"I hope that was all right. You did seem…receptive."

"After being startled, yes, I was." She grinned at Ingrid, and at herself. "And you're all right with that?"

"I've never been put off by that sort of thing. I've never had a chance to. And if there's anything else unusual or unorthodox that you'd like to try, I would be eager to help." The innocent smile on Ingrid's face clashed with the images in Elsa's mind.

"We can discuss that later." Elsa lay back and rested her eyes. "And I want to thank you for all the things you said as Anna. It was very moving, even if it wasn't real."

Ingrid's voice was quieter and flatter than usual. "As Anna, yes. Not real."

"Had you been planning this all along? Wrapping Anna's pantalettes in oilcloth and bringing them with you?"

"It was a possibility I had been entertaining."

"It was very thoughtful. In an 'unusual and unorthodox' way."

"Thank you."

Elsa squeezed Ingrid to her side for a moment, and sighed contentedly. "Is there anything I can do for you, Ingrid? After you did that for me?"

"With respect, it wasn't entirely for you."

"Still. Is there any wish of yours I could try to grant? To say thank you?"

"I try not to wish."

Elsa opened her eyes to look at the girl. "What do you mean?"

"To wish is to long for something that I don't have. And if I never get it, that can hurt. To dream is to imagine I have it already, and that can be pleasant. I prefer to dream, rather than wish, when I can."

Elsa thought about her love for her sister, unreciprocated, and the joys and pain it had brought her. _I suppose tonight was dreaming, not wishing._ She thought it over, then shook it off. "But if you did have a wish, what would it be?"

"If it's all the same, I'd rather not say."

"Not something 'unorthodox', is it? Or too big for me to grant?"

"It, um, no. Not as such."

Elsa felt that there was something Ingrid was afraid to tell her. "It's all right, Ingrid. I wouldn't tell a soul. And I'm in no position to judge." Silence. She remembered the silences when she'd first had Ingrid come to keep her company. "It's all right. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. But if you want to talk out loud to yourself, that'd be all right, too."

Ingrid sighed and relaxed against Elsa's side. Eventually she said, softly, "I couldn't ask her. Just bringing it up would be…awkward." Elsa waited for her, tempted to stroke her hair, afraid to break the spell. "There are things I like to dream, and it's easier when I have something from reality to think of. And that's why I still have a wish. I wish she could say to me, 'I love you, Ingrid.' She wouldn't have to mean it. It would be bad if she did. She loves Anna. And I'm a servant. And it would be a scandal. And she has so many, many things to deal with, I couldn't bear to add to that. Even knowing that I'd want to hear it, even if she didn't have to mean it, would put her in a position… I wouldn't want to do that to her. It wouldn't be kind. I mustn't." Elsa felt Ingrid's chest rise and fall as she sighed deeply. "I hope she could understand."

They lay in sombre silence for a while. Finally, Elsa said, "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening." It was a lie, but they both pretended it wasn't.

"It's all right," said Ingrid, her voice barely rising off the pillow. "It wasn't anything important."

And that was, too.


	11. Baldur's Pass

Colonel Metternich sat in his tent, behind a table covered in maps and papers, and listened to the anxious young scout give his report. "The Arendellers know we're coming, sir. There's a military encampment at Baldur's Pass, at least two hundred tents. And they've settled in for a long haul."

Metternich steepled his fingers. "So, you interviewed them?" The scout looked baffled. "You do not interpret, you observe. I interpret. How do you know they're 'settled in,' then? What did you _observe?_"

"There were supply wagons, sir. Several cooking fires, even though it wasn't dawn yet. And laundry."

Metternich grinned. "Laundry?"

"At least a dozen clotheslines full of clothes, sir," said the scout, relieved to have something concrete to report.

Metternich turned to Franz, his second in command. "The boy has a point. A man on the move can't wait for his pants to dry."

"Or they are reserves, and have no discipline," said Franz, stone-faced.

"Nonetheless, Baldur's Pass seems to be reasonably well-defended. Good thing we're not going through there, then." Metternich's eyes sparkled with amusement. If he wasn't in the business of killing, he could've passed for someone's witty, cynical uncle. He pointed to the map on his table. "This valley. Anything to report."

"Um, that may be a problem, sir. I'm afraid it's occupied."

"Boy, what did I say? You report, I interpret. Let me decide if it's a problem. So, how many troops?"

"Not really any troops, sir, as such. More like…" The scout stood rigid, but his eyes darted, looking for an escape.

"Yes?"

"…a wedding party, sir."

The colonel laughed delightedly. "A wedding party? So early?"

"They were setting up, sir. Tables, lots of food, some musicians," said the scout.

Metternich smiled up at Franz. "Must be a hell of a party. We shouldn't miss that, should we, Franz?"

"And eliminate them, sir?"

"Oh, Franz, where's your sense of fun? We've already lost the element of surprise. Let's replace it with the element of intimidation. We march through the valley, word passes to those farmboys playing soldier at Baldur's Pass, and they'll think twice about facing actual military men." He turned to the scout. "You're still here? Go. And next time, more observation, less trying to think, eh?" He shooed the young man away.

He tented his fingers again. The boy thought this was an exciting adventure. Franz was eager to get into battle. But Metternich knew the only good reason to fight: money. No excitement, no bloodlust. Just a paycheque. That was why he was alive and whole and still doing business, because he had his priorities in order. Take the castle, capture the princess, and get paid. Leave the honour to the "real" Metterniches and the adventure to the cannonfodder. "Well, let's get going, Franz. Round up the troops. We have a party to attend."

* * *

As the line of mercenaries crested the ridge, it occurred to Metternich that the scene would've made a lovely bucolic painting. The morning sun spreading red-gold over the valley. Two rows of wooden tables, already festive with embroidered tablecloths and piles of food. Men and women in what passed for finery in rural Arendelle, bustling happily. Dew evaporating off the brilliant green grass. In the distance, at the far end of this natural corridor, four outbuildings, two to each side. And now a long line of battle-trained mercenaries come to spoil the mood. He smiled faintly, shook his head. Good thing I'm not one of them.

Someone screamed as he and a dozen of his men on horseback led a long line of infantry into the valley. They rode between the two rows of rough-hewn banquet tables, horsemen going slowly to keep pace with the footsoldiers. The locals in their Sunday clothes, the women in their dresses and bonnets, scampered to put those tables between themselves and the soldiers, for all the good that would do them. There were a _lot_ of tables. The half-dozen musicians hid behind their instrument cases. After that first scream, there was nothing but sullen silence.

"What do you say, Franz? Shall we stop and help ourselves to the food? The pastries, at least?" Metternich grinned at him.

Immune to humour, if used to it, Franz replied, "I don't think we have time, sir."

"Quite right, Franz. We have an appointment at the castle. I suppose we'll have to settle for the royal larder, eh?" There was nothing Metternich enjoyed more than a really lopsided fight. Not because he was a bully, simply because it made his job easier. He could relax and have fun.

"_Gentlemen!"_ A clear female voice rang across the valley. As one, the vanguard of the invaders looked up to the west. A figure astride a white horse was bathed in morning sun. Reddish braids framed her stern face. She wore shining chain mail, gilded with the Royal Crocus of Arendelle. She held a flag, waving in the morning breeze, wide as she was high; the purple, green, and gold of her standard. Her other hand rested on the hilt of her sword.

The mercenaries looked down again, and saw that the valley had transformed. The thick wooden tables had been tipped up, making barricades to either side of them, bristling with the pointed ends of arrows and crossbow bolts. The "women" shed their bonnets, and joined the rest of the men at their weapons. More arms were retrieved from the musician's instrument cases. Swords had been drawn from baguettes, and serving trays returned to their original jobs as shields.

That female voice drew their attention back to the hilltop. "We are Her Gracious Highness, Princess Anna of Arendelle, Regent of Arendelle! This is our land! You are not welcome!" To either side of her, and on the opposite hilltop, more archers and crossbowmen appeared. "Retreat, and in our mercy we will not follow. Surrender, and you will be treated well. Fight, and the soil of Arendelle will be soaked with your blood. What say you?"

Franz sat up on his horse, grinning. Metternich sighed, and thought, Well, this is what we get paid for. "Attack!" His horsemen wheeled to face the enemy, his footsoldiers drew their swords for the melee. The Arendellans, peeking between the thick planks of the tables, fired crossbows at point-blank range. Invaders who tried to get around or over the barricades met the Arendelle Guard, swords drawn.

From the hilltop came the Princess' command, cutting through the noise of shouting men and clashing swords. "Unleash the first snowman!" Her order was repeated down the hillside, and four of her men at the far end of the valley ran to the first of the barnlike outbuildings. They opened the doors and released a giant snow-golem. It bent its head to get through the doorway, straightened up, and bellowed, **"Go 'way!"** It suddenly bristled with spikes of clear ice, and came lumbering towards the invaders. The men were focused on the fighting at hand, but the horses saw the colossal monster towering over them. The animals had been trained to face battle, even cannon, without flinching, but not a snow-monster four times the height of a man. They threw off their riders or tried to, and churned through the soldiers they were supposed to serve. Bug-eyed and foaming, they tried to escape, heedless of who they kicked or stepped on. Trapped between the wooden barriers, they flushed the mercenaries back the way they came. A horse that had been trapped at the front was lifted and hurled by the snow-giant, knocking over mercenaries like bowling pins.

Thrown from his horse, enraged by this unsportsmanlike battle, Franz drew his sword and prepared to show his men how to fight. A stray crossbow bolt, deflected off some reservist's shield, pierced his throat. His last thoughts were, _Dammit, they weren't even aiming at me!_

Metternich looked around him at the chaos. The Arendellan forces were supposed to be miles away at Baldur's Pass. He had been so cocky that he'd led his troops himself instead of staying sensibly far from the front. It was supposed to be a walk in the park.

Instead, he had been boxed in, in a valley! A dunderheaded mistake, ambushed like the stupidest army cadet. He heard that female voice once more. Arrows whizzing to either side of her, screaming "For Arendelle!" at the top of her lungs, the princess was charging down the hill, sword drawn and flag held high. A ragged cheer rose from the Arendellers.

The first thought he has was, _This isn't how you fight a war! These people are insane!_ The second was, _Dead men don't get paid._ He dropped his weapon and threw his arms in the air. "Surrender!" he shouted in Prussian, and again in Arendellan. "Surrender!"

Frantically, the rest of the men trapped in the valley dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. The rest retreated as fast as they could. The battle was over.

* * *

Anna sheathed her sword and handed the flag to one of the soldiers. She smiled and waved as the men cheered her. First things first. She rode up to Marshmallow.

"**Uh?"**

"Hi. It's me, Anna. Remember? Elsa's sister? Remember?" She waved awkwardly.

"**Anna."**

"Yes, Anna. Thank you. You did a wonderful job. Thank you. Elsa would be very proud of you."

"**Yeah?"**

"Yes. The men who were going to bother her have gone away, thanks to you. Elsa is fine. And now, we're going to take you back to your home, okay? Would you like that?"

Marshmallow considered. **"Yes."**

Over her shoulder Anna shouted, "Olaf! Where's Olaf?"

He toddled up cheerfully. "Hi, Aunt Princess. Hey, Marshmallow! Look at you! Who's a big scary sweetie, huh? Who's a gigantic terrifying big ol' sweetie, huh?" Marshmallow tentatively pointed a talon at itself. "Yes! That's right, you are!"

Anna bent down as best she could from horseback to talk to him. "Olaf, would you get him into the wagon and go with him back to the ice castle, please?"

"Her."

Anna blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Get _her_ into the wagon." He leaned towards her and stage-whispered, "_She's a girl._"

"Oh." Anna looked up at the walking avalanche, down at Olaf, and back to Marshmallow. "O-kay then." To Marshmallow she said, "Sorry," and to Olaf, "Would you take _her_ home, please?"

"You bet! Come on, Marsha." Olaf led her to the giant wagon that was already being filled with straw and ice for the trip back to the North Mountain.

As Anna turned back she spotted Kristoff. "Hey! Are you okay?"

He half-ran up to her. "Are _you_ okay? That was a crazy thing you did."

She smirked down at him. "Crazy like a fox."

He grinned crookedly back. "Crazy like a warrior-princess."

As he reached her, she hissed, "_Shu shu shu shu shu! Stop it!_" She put a fingertip to one of the spots on her "white" charger that had been touched up, and looked at it. "Okay, she's dry. You can help me down now." She swung a leg over and he lifted her off the horse. He wrapped her in a big hug.

"Oh, thank God you're okay. I was worried." He held her by the shoulders at arm's length and looked her over. "You are okay, right?"

"Up until you squeezed the juice out of me. Next time I'm wearing plate armor, not chain-mail." She looked down at her shiny metal shin-guards and pointy-toed metal shoes. "I like the boots though. I think these could be a thing." She pecked him on the cheek and handed him the reins. "Would you mind? I have to review the troops."

"Sure." He smiled goofily at her as she walked away. The horse snorted. "Aw, what are you looking at?"

She strode up to a stocky military man with short salt-and-pepper hair and beard. There was a bare stripe of scar tissue through one side of his beard. "Lieutenant, report."

"Excellent news, Your Highness. A few nasty injuries but no fatalities on our side. We have about a quarter of their forces, including their commander, and the rest are scarpering for the border. Awaiting orders to hunt them down."

"No, we want them to get away. If _we_ tell people, 'Any one of us might be a soldier, plus we have at least four giant battle-snowmen,' they'll think we're exaggerating. But if _they_ say it, folks'll believe it."

"Especially since we only have one battle-snowman."

"On second thought, send a few men to chase the stragglers. Not catch them, just let them know we care."

"Your next orders, ma'am?"

"Do what you do best. Round up some troops, guard the border. Leave all the empty tents standing at Baldur's Pass. It fooled them once, it might keep working. Couldn't hurt. Oh, and have the local constable fetch all the poachers he can, in or out of jail. We need people who know these woods and how to sneak through them. Swear 'em in, make them, um, special anti-scout scouts."

"I _am_ the local constable. Part-time, when I'm not soldiering. And I have to tell you a couple of the poachers are pretty old."

"Do you shoot at them?"

"In the course of my duties."

"Then if they're old and still alive, they must be good. But get someone else to do that. I saved the most important job for you."

He stood at attention. "Ma'am?"

"You're in charge of marching the prisoners back to the royal prison."

"What?"

She reached up to pat his shoulder, and pulled him in closer. Quietly, she said, "We need to know everything we can about them. Who hired them? What do they want? How many more men are out there? Now, soldiers will talk to soldiers, not to reservists. So, march them slow, give them some beer, and plenty of rest breaks to trade old war stories. Also, I need someone who knows which secrets to keep. Don't want word to get out that three of the four ice-houses were fake, for instance."

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Carry on."

As he marched off to organize his men, he overheard one of the reservists say, "I'm glad to see the bastards go, but it was over too soon. It wasn't a very good battle, was it?"

The lieutenant's voice boomed. "Not a good battle? Lads, this six-week wonder thinks it wasn't a very good battle." The reservists looked up in curiosity, the regular troops in anticipation. "Do you know what a good battle is? Do you? A good battle is one you win. A great battle is one you survive. An excellent battle, you come out with all the bits you went in with." The thump of his wooden leg as he walked made his point for him. "And a glorious battle? There's good food after!" To the laughter of the men, he picked up wedding pastries in one hand and two bottles in the other. "To a glorious battle! Spoils of war!" He glanced back at the princess just long enough to give her a surreptitious nod.

Kristoff had caught up to her by then. "Anna."

"Not in front of the troops," she said, behind her hand.

"Oh, sorry." He stood up straight. "Your Highness, a word?"

"Of course," she said clearly, and then they huddled their heads together.

He said, "I was going to ask you if it was really necessary. That bit with the flag, and the horse, and charging into battle. You kind of scared me. A lot. But I think I know what it is."

She looked up expectantly. "Yes?"

"That's your 'queen face'. Everyone looked up at you, and they were just…yeah! You were totally leading them. And I think it made a difference."

"You think so?"

"Yep. You, Princess Anna of Arendelle, are a world-class loomer."


	12. Old Friends

The pre-wedding banquet was set up like a letter T, with the raised head table forming the crossbar, holding the most favoured delegates, and the lesser nobles and heads of state at the perpendicular table. The tradition at royal banquets was to chat politely, in moderate conversational tones, to the person on one's immediate left or right.

Prince Consort Eugene of Corona wasn't much on tradition.

He was leaning forward, speaking so the dozen people at the head table could follow. "So naturally I ask the innkeeper, 'Twenty kroner for a fried egg? Are eggs that rare around here?' And he says, 'No, but princes are.' "

Everyone laughed, even Queen Elsa covering her chuckles with her hand. King Frederik was in the position of honour, of course, with Queen Rapunzel of Corona to his left, Queen Elsa to his right, and Prince Eugene to the right of her. Still smiling, although making a mental note to have that innkeeper tracked down, Frederik said, "I hope you didn't pay him the twenty kroner."

"Of course not," said Eugene. "I paid him two kroner for the breakfast."

"Still very generous of you," said Frederik, nodding.

"And an eighteen-kroner tip 'cause I like his style." King Frederik's contribution to the laughter was not as generous that time.

Rapunzel added, "It's not that big a deal. If you divide the twenty kroner by the number of times he's told that story, he's paid about twenty-five ør per telling. That sounds like good value to me." Eugene winked at her, and she smiled back.

Elsa gave him an approving nod and a raised eyebrow. "And still getting a return on your investment. Well done."

Eugene smiled roguishly and shrugged. As the table settled down again, he leaned casually towards Elsa. Quietly confidential, he said, "So, Cotton-top, I hear you have a dashing secret agent and master of disguise named Finn Rejdersen working for you. What's his deal?"

Equally quiet she replied, "I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a person."

"Oh, good one. Sounds like a denial, acts like a confirmation. So who's idea was he?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Elsa kept her eyes on her plate and calmly buttered her bun.

"Suuuure." He parodied her over-casual buttering. "Name sounds vaguely familiar."

Elsa sighed. "All right. It was Anna. It started as a joke, and then the rumours took off."

"Let me guess. Started in a 'confidential' meeting?"

She nodded. "Anna felt that if everyone was looking for a fake secret agent, fewer people would recognize our real ones. It might be working. It certainly doesn't hurt."

"So she's behind the stories?"

"And the serials, the ballads, the magic lantern shows… It's run through a patsy named Olofa who owes us a favour, but it's all Anna." Elsa glanced sideways at the former Flynn Rider. "I hope you don't mind."

"Mind? I love it. I've been changing some of my old anecdotes and blaming — that is, attributing — them to him. I need to clean up my act, you know. Got to be a responsible prince, husband, and father."

"Father?" She glanced across Frederik at Rapunzel, then back to Eugene. "She's…?" He nodded smugly. Elsa made an effort to keep her voice down. "Congratulations."

"We haven't announced it, so if you could keep it under your tiara?"

"Of course. And as for Finn Rejdersen?"

"Not a word. If you can't trust a thief with an alias, who can you trust?" He grinned. "That is, _former_ th— "

A male servant, carrying a cauldron of scalding soup, tripped up the stairs to the head table. He lost control of the pot, dumping the contents directly at Elsa before Eugene could tackle her out of the way. They landed with a thud, to a chorus of gasps and shouts. It was all over in a moment.

Eugene untangled himself from Elsa and their two chairs. "What the—?" He was dry and unburned. Elsa stood up, brushed herself off, and found herself standing in front of an arc of frozen broth. The soup had been trapped in mid-spill, forming a ragged-edged ice sculpture looking like an ocean wave. Gallons of fluid, blistering hot an instant ago, were now so cold that hoarfrost was already forming on it. Behind her, droplets clattered and rolled across the floor.

The murmur of conversation abruptly stopped. The banquet room was silent. Everyone was staring at her, and at the evidence of what her magic could do in the blink of an eye. For an instant she had an urge to run away, far away. Her magic was not a secret anymore, but there was a difference between hearing stories about what had happened two years ago, and seeing it spring to life in front of you. _They think I'm out of control. They think I'm dangerous. _She was the centre of attention of the most powerful people in Europa, and she could see the surprise and fear in their faces. _How can I defuse this?_ She thought about Eugene, and Anna, and had a flash of inspiration.

She snapped a bite-sized chunk off the frozen wave of soup, tossed it in the air, and caught it in her mouth. "Mm, crunchy." A wave of laughter and a smattering of applause washed over the banquet room, dissolving the tension.

The spell was broken, and people could move and talk again. Frederik stood up, said, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, I'll take care of this," to Elsa, and marched over, bellowing "Oh, for Satan!" to personally confront the servant.

As Elsa unfroze the base of the soup sculpture so it could be taken away, Rapunzel came to her side. "Elsa, are you okay? Did Eugene hurt you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. And thank you, Prince Eugene."

He unleashed Smoulder #3, Platonic But Roguish. "Hey, just 'Eugene' is fine. I'm on a first name basis with most of the people I land on top of."

Punzy leaned in to speak quietly. "He likes to think he's a rascal, but the guy who risked being scalded in an instant to protect you?" She gazed adoringly at her husband. "That's the real Eugene Fitzherbert."

Just as quietly Elsa said, "I'm sure he'll be an excellent father." Rapunzel grinned and glanced around nervously as Elsa gave her a little nod.

As everyone sat down to dinner again, the smile faded from Elsa's face. _Quite an exhibition in front of the most powerful people in Europe. I'd really hoped I could've been Queen Elsa of Arendelle to them, not Sorceress Elsa of Wind and Snow. _

_It's almost as if someone planned it that way._

* * *

"I always said the king would notice me one day," said Lars, laughing. "Got my wish!" He raised his beer in a toast.

Lars, the servant who'd had the accident with the cauldron, was sitting on a wooden chair in a corner just outside of the busy kitchen. Fellow servants stood around him, sympathizing and saying they'd miss him. "Henrik," he said, picking out a sadder-than-usual face, "why so glum? You can't be in more trouble than me."

Henrik, the gamekeeper, sighed and shook his head. "I shouldn't complain."

"Never stopped me," said Lars, to general laughter.

"I broke a dish from the Royal place setting. They'll dock my pay. A regular plate would be no big deal, but that gilt bastard'll cost me a month's wages, if I keep my job at all."

"Tell you what," said Lars, leaning forward to slap Henrik's arm. "Let me take the blame. They're already sending me back to godforsaken Faroe Island. What else could they do?" The servants patted Lars on the back, and Henrik looked a little less glum.

Ingrid stepped away and ducked around a corner to think. It was odd. _Lars doesn't seem to mind being sent away to Faroe Island. No, "back" to Faroe Island. And he's not worried about his pay._ She leaned against the cool stone wall, her eyes closed, listening to her thoughts. _How did Henrik break a plate from the Royal place setting?_

_Oh dear._

* * *

After dinner, King Frederik and his guests had moved to the ballroom for the post-dinner reception, where they were joined by local dignitaries, visiting celebrities, wealthy merchants, and other notables. Elsa was chatting with Jenny Lind, the singer.

"You've made quite an impact," said Jenny. "You're the only one here not dressed as you." She was exaggerating, but not entirely wrong. While Elsa was wearing a velvet gown in her royal colours of green and purple, ornamented with rosemaling, nearly a quarter of the women there — the most daring ones — were wearing some version of Elsa's ice-fabric dress. A few, like Jenny, even dared the leg-baring slit without a more modest underdress.

"I'm not up on the latest fashion. I've been busy at home."

Jenny leaned in and dropped her voice dramatically. "It's the magic. Anything Arendellan is a little bit dangerous, and therefore exciting. Even that damned pickled herring of yours."

"Of mine?"

"Andersen's Royal Table. Can't forget that name," she muttered. "People are smuggling it into the Southern Isles. Illegal _and_ dangerous. Ooh!" She shivered. "I wouldn't be surprised if they serve some tonight." Jenny glanced to the side and scowled. "Speak of the devil. Come on, your majesty." With an entertainer's immunity to protocol, she took Elsa's arm and steered her away.

"What was that about?" said Elsa.

"H. C. Andersen. Avoid him if you can. You're just his type."

"The writer?"

"The same. He's a pest." Jenny sighed dramatically. "He loves to moon over beautiful women he can't have. You know. Us. The least kindness convinces him you're soul mates, and any unkindness convinces him his love is," she put the back of her hand to her forehead over-dramatically, "tragically _doomed_."

Elsa frowned. "Isn't that sad?"

"Oh, don't feel sorry. You'll never be rid of him. Y'know, I don't think he actually wants to be with anyone. He'd rather stay home, pining for his love, his hand working frantically and spilling it all out on his sheets." She paused for effect. "Of paper." She laughed, but Elsa didn't join in. "I suspect that beautiful, soulless mermaid of his is supposed to be me."

"How flattering for you." Elsa scanned the crowd for an excuse to get away.

* * *

At the far end of the ballroom, the Lord Steward was announcing guests as they arrived. "Presenting Mrs. Vinterhavn of Lillefjord and Arendelle."

Ingrid paused in the doorway, took a deep breath, and strode catlike into the room. _If they'd only let me serve, it would've been so much simpler. _As the widow Vinterhavn she was dressed all in black. Her hair was down in a ponytail like a ribbon of black silk, a black hat and veil concealed her face, and underneath an elegantly simple dress a steel-boned corset carved womanly curves from her girlish figure. She was near enough to Elsa's size to raid her wardrobe, and Elsa's emergency funeral outfit worked well as widow's weeds.

As she glided quietly through the crowds she overheard Prince Einar, one of the "bad foxes," holding forth to a cluster of apprehensive women.

"I mean, she was startled, and like that — " He snapped his fingers. " — gallons of scalding liquid was frozen solid. Rock solid. Imagine what could happen if _you_ startled her?" He pointed teasingly at a young woman who shivered in delicious terror. As Ingrid passed his orbit he turned to her. _A fresh widow. It should be easy to give her a scare._ "I ask you. How could you defend against such a thing?"

She paused. "Serve vichyssoise." The women giggled. "Failing that, don't spill your soup." They laughed again, and Prince Einar pretended to smile.

_I thought so_, thought Ingrid as she walked away. _It was not an accident. But what's their next step?_

Elsa was looking for an excuse to disengage when Mr. Møller came up to introduce a late arrival. "Your Majesty, Miss Lind, may I present Mrs. Vinterhavn of Lillefjord and Arendelle. Mrs. Vinterhavn, Her Majesty Queen Elsa of Arendelle, and Jenny Lind, the famous singer." Elsa knew her in an instant.

_Why does she make me think of Ingrid? _thought Møller. Then it struck him. _Oh yes, she wrote the girl's letter of reference._ Problem solved, he bustled off to his next task. _Still, there's something about her nose…_

_Oh hell, _thought Elsa. Decades of concealing her feelings served her well. "Mrs. Vinterhavn, this is a surprise," she said with a polite smile.

"Always an honour and a pleasure, Your Majesty." Ingrid curtseyed to her.

"You know each other?" asked Jenny.

"We've met," said Elsa. "And what brings you here so unexpectedly?"

"When I heard Your Majesty was here, I _couldn't_ stay away." They shared a private glance. Ingrid met Elsa's raised eyebrow with a tiny nod. _Yes, it's risky, but I had to come. _"Have you had a tour of the grounds yet?"

"Is there something I need to see?"

"If you have a chance, the gamekeeper's cottage is very quaint." Ingrid kept her tone light and conversational. "I can't say for certain, but I think you might see a bad fox there. I strongly recommend looking into it."

"A what fox?" asked Jenny.

Ingrid smiled condescendingly. "It's a breed normally found on Faroe Island." She turned back to Elsa. "I know I heard one barking around here, and I felt you had to know."

Elsa nodded. "I know what you mean." She followed a hunch. "I suppose you heard about that unfortunate accident with the stock pot."

Ingrid nodded back. "As they say, 'everything happens for a reason.' I'm sure that's the case."

Just then a serving maid approached with a tray of drinks. After Elsa and Jenny declined, she turned to the young widow.

"Ingrid!" she hissed. "Is that you? What do you think you're doing?"

Ingrid felt a jolt of terror clench her throat. She willed it away, glared at the maid, and in a slightly exaggerated Arendellan accent demanded, "Whatever do you mean, girl?"

Elsa joined in staring the girl down. Miss Lind, not clear on what was happening but knowing which side to be on, joined in.

"I'm suh-sorry, I just…it was just…I, uh, I'm very sorry, I was mistaken." She looked again at Mrs. Vinterhavn. How could she have mistaken this proud woman for the timid newcomer she worked with? "For a moment, I thought there was a resemblance, but…"

Ingrid waved her away. "Oh, stop nattering and go." As the serving girl scuttled away Ingrid sighed and turned to the the singer. "Servants." She shook her head, dismayed.

Jenny nodded in agreement, glanced around, and discovered that Elsa had left in the confusion. Ingrid, making conversation, pointed to a beak-nosed man with a receding hairline. "Isn't that H. C. Andersen? Do you know him?"

Elsa had slipped out through the gardens and headed for the gamekeeper's rough wooden cottage on foot. It had been a quarter-hour's walk, but she couldn't afford to draw attention by getting a horse from the stables.

She glanced through the rippled glass of a side window and saw a silhouetted figure sitting at an elaborate meal. _Definitely __**not**__ a gamekeeper._ He was alone and, except for cutlery, unarmed. She chose to confront him directly.

She put her hand on the cast-iron door-handle, little more than a latch, and tried it. It was unlocked. She entered.

A reedy, petulant voice asked, "Where on Earth have you been, Hans? You're nearly an hour late. I wouldn't have waited if I'd had anywhere else to…" He turned and saw Elsa glaring at him, baffled and furious. "…go?"

"**Weselton?"**


	13. Calm Before The Storm

Hans was relaxed and comfortable in his long coat as he reviewed the two burly men, stamping and fidgeting to keep themselves warm, until he saw the skinny woman who was held between them, shivering in the cold of the ice house. "Are you blind? You were supposed to grab the _maid_." He stepped up to the woman and purred, "I'm so terribly sorry, ma'am. If I had known there'd be any..." He took the sack off her head, paused, and smiled. "My apologies, gentlemen. If you'd been smart enough to think for yourselves, you'd never have gotten it right." He turned to the woman again, lifted her veil and removed her gag. "Good evening. Ingrid, I believe?"

She curtseyed as well as she could, her arms being held by the two men. "Yes, sir. Good evening, Your Highness."

"Well, you've been naughty, dressing up as one of your betters. You could be in serious trouble."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Never mind, I can work with it. Do you know why you're here, Ingrid?"

"Yes, sir, Your Highness. You're going to kill me and blame it on Queen Elsa."

"I - " He looked at the mercenaries. "Did you tell her?"

"No, sir," said the older, slightly more scarred one.

"Forgive my presumption, Your Highness, but I can't think of another reason for you to kidnap me and bring me to an ice house."

"Hm. You're taking this quite well." He asked the thugs, "Was she this well-behaved all the way here?" and they nodded.

"We're all servants here, excepting Your Highness, of course," said Ingrid. "I didn't see the point of struggling."

He was mildly curious about her strange calm, but mostly he was pleased she wasn't making a fuss. "Are you sure you don't want to curse my name or spit in my face?"

"That would be rude, sir, and futile."

He smiled warmly at her. "Clever _and_ courteous. I'm impressed."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I'll remember that compliment for the rest of my life."

He thought, smirked, then laughed. "Very good! 'For the rest of my life.' It's a shame you have to be killed. Still, nothing to be done about it. But in gratitude for your politeness, do you have a last request?"

"May I have a minute or two for prayer, sir?"

He looked around. He had her trapped in an ice house and overwhelmingly overpowered. "If you're praying for rescue, I don't think it'll work."

"No, sir. Just forgiveness for my sins, and giving thanks."

"Giving thanks?" He smiled, amused. "For what? Your long and happy life?"

"Yes, sir. It's been happier than I'd expected. And longer than some. I'm grateful."

"Grateful. Well, plenty of time for prayer when you're shivering to death. I could spare you some last words, though. Fair enough?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Go ahead."

"Begging Your Highness' pardon, sir, but I think you should know that you can't win. It's impossible."

He poured himself a cup of hot chocolate from a tea-cozy covered pot. "And who's going to stop me? The ice witch? But that's the beauty of my plan. The more she fights back, the worse it goes for her."

"Yes, Your Highness. But your brothers will never respect you, and your father will never love you. Sir." He looked at her, his chocolate forgotten. "Even if you succeed, they'll dismiss your contribution and insist theirs made the difference. They'll say it wasn't that big a deal. The highest praise you might get is that it was 'not bad for the baby of the family.' " He set down his cup. "And your father will ask why you couldn't have gotten it right the first time."

Expression left his face. "Know a lot about politics, do you?"

"No, sir. Just older brothers."

"Do it," he said to the thugs. They looked at him, unprepared. "Now! Take her away. Don't just stand there, get to work." Hans opened the broad doors and stepped outside.

The older man held her while the younger one doused her with buckets of water. For all her stoicism, Ingrid screamed when the ice water first poured over her. Once she was soaked through, they carried her to the top of the ice blocks that filled the enormous barn-like building, twenty feet above. The ice had been stacked so that there was an empty column in the middle, three feet square and reaching down to the floor. The princes used it for quickly freezing boar or deer carcasses after a hunt. As they were about to lower her into it, the younger mercenary muttered, "Sorry."

Through chattering teeth, Ingrid said, "This isn't the sort of killing you're used to, is it."

"Nuh."

She looked into his dull, sad eyes. "I don't suppose you could let me go, then."

He didn't speak. He just nodded at the other mercenary, then shook his head.

"I see."

Dangling her by a hand, he lowered her as far as he could, then dropped her. She landed with a thud.

* * *

In the gamekeeper's cottage, the Duke of Weselton stood up and backed away from his dinner, the Royal place setting rattling on the rough-hewn table. "You! Er, that is, Your Majesty. Queen Elsa. What a, um, surprise. That is, uh, thank goodness you're here. I have important things. To tell you. Bit of luck, actually."

Elsa stamped her foot, sharply. Ice raced along the floor in six directions and sealed the doors and windows. Glaring at him, she walked towards him slowly and deliberately.

He shuffled backwards. "In fact, that is, in fact I was just about to go looking for you. Actually saves me a bit of a walk. Actually." A nervous chuckle dribbled off his lips.

With each step an ice dagger appeared in one of her hands, alternating left and right, and was flung point-first into a floorboard. She smirked maliciously. She flicked her fingers to the side, and a burst of frigid wind yanked the toupee from his head and flung it aside. A frigid flake-speckled wind began to spin through the cottage. He was cornered. She stopped inches in front of him. "Something is going on. Something which threatens me. And a threat to me is a threat to my people. So now, you capering little lizard, you are going to tell me exactly what mischief you think you're up to." She spread her hand wide, and suddenly her fingers were capped with long, sharp crystal talons.

He puffed himself up. "Y-you can't...it's no use torturing me, you know."

She gazed idly at her talons. "Quite right. You'd say anything, true or false, just to get me to stop." She shook her hand and the talons dropped off. "So, I'm simply going to ask you politely to sit down and tell me everything you know. If you lie to me, or leave anything out, you know I will find you. And torture you. And I won't have a reason to stop."

He looked in her eyes, transfixed. And in her eyes he saw freezing blizzards, avalanches snuffing out villages like candle flames, mammoths trapped in ice like bugs in amber. He saw glaciers spreading across continents, carving earth and stone like a knife scraping across butter, on a scale of time and space so huge that a single human life was as significant as a snowflake. He saw something in her that even she didn't fully realize. She didn't summon her magic, willingly or unwillingly. It was there, it was always there. Waiting to be unleashed. And her power could only grow stronger.

"Yes! Yes, of course. Whatever you say." He scuttled over to a chair and sat down. "It's Hans. It was all Hans. Prince Hans. He contacted me months ago, asking for my advice. He had a plan. Has a plan. When he heard about the wedding, with Prince Harald marrying Queen Bjarndis of Greenland and Iceland, but it's being held here even though she's a queen and he's a prince, he knew that everyone would be here. And all the, um, _things_, that happened at your coronation? Well, it was mostly ambassadors and delegates, y'see. And we all know how it ended. With everyone very happy for you."

Elsa casually conjured a throne of ice and sat facing the Duke. "Go on."

"Yes. Well. So. What Hans thought, what he thought, y'see, is that however frightening the, um, _things_ that you, um, that happened, no one was scared of you. And it was two years ago, and no one believes half of it anyway, by now. But if he could get you to do things like that here, in front of all these heads of state, and such, and if it ended badly, then people would be scared of, um, you, and it would be easy to get them all behind him in taking over, um, Arendelle, and, y'know, capturing you, and thingy. So the first step is tomorrow night, at the big post-wedding banquet, he's going to have an enormous pot of boiling soup dumped at you, and naturally you'll freeze it, and everyone can see how powerful and sudden your magic is."

"That happened tonight."

"What? No! That's not supposed to happen. I was supposed to, well, y'see, that was _my_ plan. My plan, y'see, was to tell you about _his_ plan."

"What the hell?"

"Yes, y'see, I didn't mean for anything to actually happen, y'see. My plan was, I come to you once his plans are finalized, and say, 'Your Majesty, Prince Hans is out of exile, and plotting against you, but you can stop him, and here are his plans, and then..."

Elsa leaned forward, leaning on one of her knees. "And then what, Weselton?"

In a tiny voice he said, "...and then maybe you'd be so grateful you'd re-open trade with us?"

"_What?_ You jumped into this cesspool so you could renegotiate a _trade treaty?_"

"But it wasn't supposed to actually happen! Not the soup, or the girl, or the troops, or anything!"

Elsa sat back in exasperated disbelief. "What troops? What girl?"

"Well , the troops thing is, that he would have mercenary troops ready to move on your capital once sympathy was on his side, and he could swoop in and take the castle. But I planned ahead. There are naval exercises out of Weselton that will 'just happen' to be off the coast of Arendelle, ready to come in and repel the invaders...unless he moved that up as well."

"And where did he get the funds for these mercenaries?"

The Duke didn't say anything. He just grinned, terrified and apologetic.

"So, instead of double-crossing Hans and manipulating me, you funded his coup and implicated yourself. You, sir, are a moron."

"How dare you! That is..." He took a long pause. "Oh dear, I am a moron, aren't I."

"Now what about the other thing?"

"What? Oh yes. The girl. Well, frozen soup is one thing, but it's not really dangerous-looking. Not really. So, he, um..."

Elsa gazed levelly at him.

Weselton cleared his throat. "He, um, was going to make it look like you froze someone. To, um, to death, y'know."

Elsa jumped from her chair and lunged towards him. "Who? How?"

"No one. Just that maid of yours. He was going to freeze her solid and leave her out somewhere so it'd look like you, um, y'know, thingy." He waved his hand weakly.

"_How?_"

"In the ice house. With, y'know, ice. _But it wasn't supposed to happen!_"

"A lot of things aren't supposed to happen." She turned back and forth, frantically. "A horse! Where's your horse?"

He shrugged. "I, um, don't have one. I was dropped off. By Hans."

"To keep you out of the way while he pulled off your brilliant scheme. _Dammit!_" With her left hand she banished the ice from the doorway and stormed out. With her right she froze it closed again.

To the empty room Weselton said, "I'll just wait here then, shall I? If that's all right with you?"


	14. The Storm

Elsa looked around for anything that would help. The ice house was about as far away as the castle's stables, so there'd be no advantage to going there for a horse. There was nothing around except moonlight-silvered trees. There was nothing for it.

She ran.

A flash of her magic split the side of her skirts, freeing her legs.

_Faster._

She ran, panting, her lungs burning with the effort.

_Hold on, Ingrid. Please, hold on. I'm coming as fast as I can. I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean to do this to you. Hold on. Just hold on. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry._

A cold wind came up behind her, pushing her forward like a firm hand, blowing stray leaves ahead of her, loose pebbles stinging the backs of her calves. It became stronger and stronger, lifting her up and forward. With her storm behind her, her strides were long, her feet tapped the path like stones skipping across a pond.

_Faster!_

She spread her arms and a cape of icefabric caught the storm. It felt awkward, running with her arms outstretched, but she was covering yards with every step.

_Be strong, Ingrid. Be strong. You've endured so much, just endure a little more. Please hold on until I can get there. Please let me fix this. Please let me make this right. Please let me help. Please be alive. Please be there._

Trees and bushed fled past as she sped down the dirt path, her soles barely touching the ground. The wind dissheveled her hair, pushing strands ahead as if every part of her was reaching forward.

_**Faster!**_

Her feet could no longer keep up. Without a moment's thought she conjured skis, and her storm paved the path ahead of her with snow. She and her storm were an avalanche of wind and snow, a knife of winter slicing through the summer's night.

_That __**bastard**__ Hans. How dare he! How dare he threaten me! My Anna! My Arendelle! My Ingrid! Your quarrel is with __**me**__, Hans! I will not let you make her pay the price!_

She rocketed forward at the speed of her blizzard, the scenery a blur, her ice-cape flapping like the wings of an avenging angel. She was moving faster than any human ever had, but it was still not fast enough.

_**FASTER!**_

Prince Hans had gone back into the ice house, leaving a dozen soldiers to guard the perimeter. Two of them were the men who had brought the girl.

The younger man, Gerard, pointed off into the distance. "You see that?"

The older man, Axel, squinted. It was a puff of white, glowing in the full moon's light, moving and seeming to grow. He grunted, and put on one of the heavy jackets that they had been issued.

"You think that's her? The ice witch?" asked Gerard. "It's a long way off, whatever it is."

Axel nodded towards Gerard's jacket, signaling him to put it on. "I don't know. But if it is, you'll want your coat on." As Gerard buttoned up, Axel added, "They say soldiering is one part fighting to twenty parts waiting. If you ask me, it's one part fighting to twenty parts getting ready." He didn't elaborate. He just picked up his crossbow and pulled back the cord. Gerard picked up his longbow and notched an arrow.

The distant puff was now a storm, barrelling towards them, a white cloud of snow shining ghostly in the moonlight and glowing from within. The men deployed, some atop the ice house, one each behind the two trees that framed the road, foolhardy ones guarding the doors, prudent ones hugging the side walls. Every man had an arrow or crossbow bolt aimed at the tempest.

It arrived as huge and sudden as an avalance, snow pelting them, arctic wind burning their hands and faces. Their arrows flew, and were pushed aside by the blizzard. For an instant the snow parted and they glimpsed a figure like a medieval knight made of cut crystal. Elsa's blue eyes, flashing with rage, and blond hair pulled back and away, were disconcertingly visible through her mask of ice. Her armor was faceted, angled, smooth. A stray crossbow bolt had managed to clip her arm, but her armor there had flaked instead of cracking. So rapidly they could barely take it in, they saw her armor heal itself. Somehow, without joints or hinges, she moved easily.

The storm, instead of drowning her voice, echoed and amplified it. "You are in my way. _Go!_"

Uncanny and terrible as she was, there were twelve of them and one of her. And as Prince Hans had told them, "Put an arrow through her, and she dies like anyone." They fired again.

She barely gestured her hands upwards and a wall of wind rose up, tossing the arrows up and away, landing in the dirt to either side.

The two trees framing the ice house were lush and well-watered. She cast her arms to the sides and in an instant they froze, the expanding moisture blowing them apart with a sound like thunder. Each one collaped into a pile of splinters, leaves, and small branches, burying the men hiding behind them.

Her magic spoke to her. Not speech as such, but it revealed itself to her, filling her awareness with ancient knowledge, like a door opening on a library she never knew existed, like memories she'd always had but never known.

_~you can stop their hearts~_

_~you can suffocate them with snow~_

_~you can freeze the blood in their veins~_

A list of ways she could kill them all with a thought was instantly, effortlessly in her mind. She could snuff them out like candles.

_~they're in your way~_

_No._

_~you can encase them in ice and they won't die instantly~_

_No! _

_Not like this._

_Not yet._

A melee fighter came at her, sword raised. She encased him in ice, but only from elbows to swordpoint. He thumped to the ground, the ice too heavy to lift. She flicked a glance, and hailstones pelted the combatants, keeping them off balance. She held out her hands expectantly, and her magic fetched the longbow and arrows from one of the men buried under an exploded tree.

Archery had been one of the few sports she had taken to. The combination of control and letting go spoke to her soul. She nocked an arrow, pulled it back, and let fly, aiming at one of the men on the ice house's roof. Just as her storm had pushed their arrows aside, it guided hers with literally unnatural precision. As easy and tempting as it would've been to pierce his heart, she aimed for the shoulder of his bow arm. Disabled and in pain, he toppled backwards off the roof. She aimed at the other one and let fly. He fell forward, the arrow that pierced him twisting and breaking as he rolled forward down the slope of the roof. Again and again she nocked and let fly, leaving the warriors crippled but alive, some of them pinned to the walls they guarded, others dragging themselves and each other out of harm's way.

As she walked to the broad doors, her arrows exhausted, one soldier remained. Gerard.

Their eyes met, hers lethal, his bewildered. He had an arrow at the ready. She was alive with magic. Either one could kill the other, or try to, in an instant. For a long moment, neither one moved.

He saw that inside the crystal armor, her image broken apart by facets, was a woman. A young woman. And even though he knew she could kill him in the wink of an eye, he couldn't get past the training of his childhood. _You don't hit girls. It's not nice._ He was already uncomfortable with what he had done to the other girl. He couldn't do this.

There was a storm of fury in her eyes, but he thought he saw a spark of light at the centre. He believed that she didn't want to hurt him if she didn't have to, and he realized he felt the same way. His arms fell to his sides, and his bow and arrow dropped to the ground.

As she strode past him, he turned and walked away.

As Elsa's hand closed on the door latch, she was startled at how small her hand was. It didn't seem right that the door was taller than she was. She had felt so much larger. She paused, opened the door, and entered.

She saw Hans standing in front of a wall of ice blocks, with a sharp icicle pointed at his own throat. "Hurt me and you hurt yourself. Kill me and you kill the girl." _Knock her off balance. Don't let her think._

She halted, frustrated and confused. "What are you doing?"

"What would happen if I was found with a chunk of ice through my neck? Me, the man that everyone knows you despise? Would people think 'suicide'? Or would they believe the murderous ice witch had lost control. Again." He saw her flinch. _Good. She's vulnerable there. Keep pushing._

"Where's the girl."

"Or strike me down. You know you want to. You could freeze my heart. You've done it before. Patterns of frost creeping up my arms? Pathetically shivering? Now that'd get everyone on the side of poor misunderstood Hans against the dangerously out-of-control ice witch." He leaned in and lowered his voice, as if sharing a juicy bit of gossip. "Oh, and I've taken the liberty of getting a barmaid to fall in love with me so I'll have an act of True Love to fall back on. It's been terribly exciting for her."

"Where. Is. Ingrid."

"She's 'Ingrid,' then. That is interesting. When you swooped in like a valkyrie, I suspected the girl was more to you than an innocent bystander." _I can use this._

"Where is she. What have you done with her." Needles of ice popped from her fingertips like sparks.

"Please, slow down, Your Majesty. Take a moment to collect yourself. She's almost certainly still alive at this point, but if you kill me you'll never find her. And, incidentally, you'll doom yourself."

"Tell me where she is."

"Or…? You'll freeze me to death and prove you're the monster everyone's starting to expect you are? I don't think you'll do it. I'd much rather not die, thank you. But if you make me one more frozen corpse, as you're tempted to, my allies will use me as another illustration that I was right all along, and that someone needs to conquer the Ice Witch and take over Arendelle. For its own protection."

She shook with rage, holding herself back, trying to find a way around the situation but too furious to think clearly.

_~you can freeze him feet first. he'll still be able to talk~_

_That's what he __**wants**__._

"And what is this Ingrid to you? Long-lost half-sister? One of Agdar's bastard whelps?" Having seen the anger in her face, he held up his hands in mock-surrender. "Oops. My apologies. Mustn't tease the lioness in her cage." He loved the danger of the game. He never felt more alive than when he was manipulating someone. "Besides, desperate for family as you are, you'd take even an out-of-wedlock half-sister and throw her a parade."

Elsa paced as well as she could in the space between the insulated wall and the towering blocks of ice, her eyes never leaving Hans. He poured himself a cup of hot cocoa from a towel-wrapped teapot and sipped thoughtfully. "If not a relative, a friend? A very close friend? As a chambermaid? I don't see it. You may not know it, but she tried to pass herself off as a noblewoman this evening. Probably trying to bridge the gap." He continued to read her reactions, and nodded. "Aha!" He smiled. He would've looked charming to anyone who didn't know him. "She's your little bed-warmer! That's why you were in a fury. I'd stolen your little pet." A spike of ice shot up from the floor, its point touching his chin. He didn't even flinch. He just made a mental note of another vulnerability. "Explains why no one got anywhere with you. And you must've fallen fast and hard, considering you only met her a few days ago."

She knew he was reading her face, poking her to see how she'd react, and despite years of _conceal, don't feel _she could practically hear his thoughts clicking like abacus beads.

"…unless you didn't. Did you send her ahead to snoop for you, or just to make sure you'd have a discreet warm welcome?"

She sighed, still glowering at him. "What do you want."

"Respect. Vindication. Arendelle. Oh, what do I want from _you?_ Doesn't really matter. I've planned for everything. If you hadn't shown up, I'd have Ingrid's rigid body to 'prove' you can't control your powers. If you had, I'd do the same with a frozen mercenary or two. Be a spoilsport, use a bow and arrow? Well, I still have the girl, plus a couple of exploded trees. Run away? Practically an admission of guilt. And an alliance of states, led by myself, will hunt you down. I've already covered 'stay and fight.' It's all in what people see. But where are my manners? Cocoa? It's still hot."

"I'm fine."

"Ah. Your element. Like your ice castle. Only a handful of people saw your terrible power there, no one who mattered except Weselton and me. Oh, how frustrated he was when no one took him seriously. But everyone saw your sister sacrifice herself to save you. So naturally _I'm_ the monster. It's what people see."

"Quit stalling. You're waiting for Ingrid to freeze. Bring her here."

"No, it really is important that you understand. You can't know you're checkmated if you can't see the board. As I said, appearances. The soup was a brilliant touch. Comfortably frightening, amusingly silly. An easy story to spread to anyone. But once a frozen body turns up, all those seeds blossom into fear. Fear I can harvest. But you can't jump straight to the icy corpse. Too jarring. Once you turned that soup into an ice sculpture, you were done. Not even your flippant joking could save you. What have you accomplished with all your fighting back tonight? Just shown how much of a danger you are. You see? In the end, the more you use your power, the more you hurt yourself. And those around you, of course." He paused, nodded slightly. "But I do have an alternative."

"What." She spat the word at him, the only weapon she could safely use.

"Suicide. 'Stricken with remorse, the witch killed herself.' A satisfying conclusion to a tragic tale. Your distraught sister would be put somewhere safe. You know my troops must've taken the castle by now. I wouldn't need the chambermaid, she'd be free to go as long as she kept her mouth shut. And who'd believe her anyway? Vindicated Prince Hans steps in to lead Arendelle, and everyone lives happily ever after." He stopped gloating, turned serious. He even appeared compassionate. "You have my word, your sister and the girl would be safe."

She forced herself to be as civil as she could. "Your word? Forgive my skepticism."

"I admit, you may have some small reason to doubt my sincerity. But do you have a choice? A chance to save your sister and your…companion…or no chance at all. Could you risk hurting them even more, when you might save them?"

"I…"

"Of course not. It's not who you are. You don't mean to be a monster. You never meant to be a danger to Anna, to Ingrid, to…" He took a gamble on what Ingrid meant to her. "…everyone you love." She was startled, but she didn't argue. _Bullseye!_ He didn't know love, but he knew what it looked like. "All you can do — all you have to do — is sacrifice yourself. And it will all be over. _If_ we're in time to save Ingrid, of course."

She turned away, head bowed, arms folded in on herself. Her head was a swirl of anger, fear, grief, and guilt. She had to do something, but she couldn't think. "I — I can't. I can't do that. What you said. I promised Anna."

He nodded, storing that little tidbit away in case it was needed. "A compromise, then. Pick up a weapon, or conjure one. Come at me, and I'll 'defend myself.' It'll have to be face to face, to be convincing." The gloating was gone. His face was sombre, respectful. "But my sword is sharp. You deserve that. It'll be quick and clean. It'll only hurt for a moment, and then it's all over. And you can keep your promise to your sister."

The fury and its power had drained out of her. She felt heavy and numb, as if she was wrapped in lead blankets. She couldn't fight him without proving herself a monster. But she couldn't give in.

"You know it's the only way." His voice and eyes were gentle, even kind. "No one else needs to be hurt."

Without her anger to prop her up, she was too drained to know what to do. She searched desperately for a way out, but kept coming up blank. She was too tired to fight, and had nowhere to run.

Softly he said, "I don't mean to pressure you, but the sooner we're done, the sooner Ingrid goes free. She doesn't have long by now."

Elsa picked up a spear left by one of the troops, stood up straight, held it at head height, as if she was about to charge him. Her eyes were already dead. She shed her ice armor, standing in her ruined gown. Sounds rattled between the wooden inner walls of the ice house and the cliff of blocks next to them. She nodded. "Very well."

He drew his sword. "It really is for the best, Your Majesty. Trust m— "

A block of ice struck his head and left shoulder, knocking him flat. He didn't move. Elsa looked up and saw in the gap between the ice and the ceiling a thin, trembling figure, her ribs visible through the wet slip that clung to her. Ingrid tottered, and fell.

For an instant Elsa was paralyzed, a child again, watching Anna leap from snowpeak to snowpeak in the moments before a stray bolt of magic erased their childhood.

"_No!" _As Ingrid plummeted, Elsa aimed her hands away from Ingrid and at the floor, desperately summoning a bank of snow to soften her fall. Ingrid landed with a thud, lying prone on the floor.

The spear forgotten, everything forgotten, Elsa ran, kneeling beside her and cradling the shivering Ingrid in her lap. The glow of Elsa's magic pulsed brightly and the ice and snow in a circle around them was gone, even carving a shallow dish out of the wall of ice.

Ingrid smiled up at her, and said through chattering teeth, "I-I-It's all r-right, Your Maj-j-esty. I d-d-d-didn't feel a thing."

Elsa's tears froze on her face. This was all wrong. Ingrid shouldn't be paler than her, colder than her. Her lips should be pink, not bluish. "It's my fault. It's all my fault."

"Elsa, no. His lies. Hans d-did this. No one but Hans."

Elsa hugged Ingrid to herself, sharing what bodily warmth she had, and trembled with helpless frustration. For all her earthshaking power, her magic couldn't do a thing to warm a helpless girl. "How — how did you — ?"

Ingrid held up her hands. Her palms were raw, scraped and rope-burned. "I had some help."

At the bottom of the ice pit, once the guards had left to join the fight, Ingrid had stripped out of her soaking clothes. Her hands already clumsy with cold, she couldn't wring out the dress enough to make it worth putting back on. Wearing the slip for modesty's sake, she used her nails and teeth to take apart the corset and remove the steel stays. First things first. With the sharp edge of one of the stays she carved a message where she was sure it'd be found.

Then she grabbed a steel slat in each hand, dug them into the cracks between the ice blocks, and tried to haul herself up. They bent under her weight and bit into her palms.

Forcing her shivering hands to work, she used the laces to make bundles of the stays. Once again she jammed them between the blocks and lifted herself, but she couldn't get her makeshift picks to work while supporting her own weight. She couldn't fight the cold and her shivering, and fell back to the floor.

Hugging her knees she sat and prayed, thanking God and reminding herself of the blessings she had received. She asked Him to watch over Elsa, to help her not to blame herself, and bring her love and peace. She asked to be reunited with Anders. And then she waited.

Something blunt struck her shoulder.

It was a knot tied in the end of a rope.

She looked up and saw a silhouette of a man peering down at her. She thought she recognized him. It was one of the men who had grabbed her; the younger one. As loud as he dared, he whispered down to her, "Sorry."

She didn't know if he was apologizing for kidnapping her, dropping her down this icy oubliette, or just for hitting her in the shoulder with the rope. She whispered back, "Thank you," but he was already gone.

Gerard snuck back out of the ice house, dropping down from the high-placed door used for loading ice to the upper levels. He couldn't stay to haul the girl out, but he had dropped the rope down to her. He gave her a chance. At least it was something. He started walking, and didn't look back.

In Elsa's arms, Ingrid turned to show the inside of her left forearm. "His lies w-would never w-win. I had a plan." She had carved _HANS DID THIS TO ME_ in her skin with the edge of one of the corset stays. Even frozen solid, her corpse could testify against him.

Elsa's tears were too hot and fast to freeze, and splattered on Ingrid. Elsa cursed herself for not having Rapunzel's gift. Her tears could only make Ingrid wetter and colder. "I'm sorry, Ingrid. I'm so, so sorry. I'm a fraud. I'm a horrible queen, and a horrible friend. I'm so sorry I did this to you."

"Hans did this. He lied to you. You have been nothing but good to me. I would rather have this life with you than anything else." She closed her eyes in concentration, willed her teeth to stop chattering. "I love you, Elsa."

"I love you too, Ingrid. I love you."

The only warmth in the room was Ingrid's smile. "You don't have to mean it."

"I do."

Her duties complete, Ingrid sagged in Elsa's arms.

"Don't you leave me, Ingrid. Don't you leave me." Elsa held her closer, and thumped her own thigh with her fist. _God damn it! Why can't I help her? Even Hans has more warmth than me._ She glared enviously at him, unconscious on the floor, his breath steaming in the cold.

His pot of cocoa steaming in the cold.

She gritted her teeth. _If a sorceress can't save her, a woman can._ She dragged Ingrid over to him, unbuttoned his coat, and laid her on top of him. The coat was large and Ingrid was small, so Elsa managed to fasten enough buttons to keep it closed, his body heat sustaining her. _He's good for something after all. _She leaned into Hans' ear and muttered, "If you hurt her, I'll kill you. If you touch her, I'll kill you. If you try anything, I'll kill you. If you look at her, or talk, or think, I'll kill you. Give me an excuse to warm her with your blood." Satisfied with the unconscious prince's silent assent, she fetched the cocoa and cup, and wiped the cup vigorously on her hem. She cradled Ingrid's head, waking her, and raised the cup enough for Ingrid to drink. "Little sips, Ingrid, little sips. Not too much."

Ingrid sipped. "Sweet," she said between swallows, and Elsa didn't know if she meant the cocoa or her. She didn't particularly care. She didn't care if Ingrid was speaking Ancient Greek as long as warmth was flowing into her.

Ingrid's shivering was less, but it wasn't enough. Elsa would have to get her someplace warm. Without looking, she blasted the doors open, letting in soft wisps of warm summer air. She'd have to get Ingrid to the castle. Elsa tried to lift the two of them, but couldn't. Even if she had, there was no way she could carry the two of them all that way.

She slapped her hand on the floor. A layer of ice shot out, underneath Ingrid and Hans, and formed a slab that rose beneath them. In a moment they were sitting on a sleigh made of ice. Built for speed, it was just a platform and two runners with hexagonal bracing. Elsa cast a path of snow ahead of them, and pushed the sleigh outside. There she climbed aboard, spread her arms, and let a winter storm fill her cape and push them forward. She blessed what little luck she had that there was moonlight enough to see the path as she paved it with snow. Despite her cargo she was soon travelling nearly as fast as she had earlier, each bump and hillock sending them airborne for a moment.

Inside the castle, the party had spilled out of the ballroom and spread into the entrance hall. Those who didn't care for the noise and crowding (plus the servants who waited on them) chatted quietly in groups of two or three. A woman asked the handsome, slightly younger man who accompanied her, "Did you feel a breeze?"

The entrance doors blasted open and the hall was filled with a winter storm. Dresses flapped and elaborate hairdos glittered with snowflakes. The steps to the doorway tore the runners off the sleigh, leaving Elsa clinging to her bundle and riding a slab of ice as it slid to the centre of the room.

"Help her. He froze her. Save her." Elsa's eyes were unfocused, and wide with desperation. While everyone else milled or fled, three people came forward: Astrid, a cook, Jenna, a serving girl, and an older man in a military dress uniform, Ambassador Metternich.

"Get that tablecloth," said Astrid. Jenna ran to the nearest table and began moving food and dishes aside. "Never mind clearing it, girl! Just dump it all." Jenna hesitated, then yanked the heavy cloth off the table, scattering plates and platters.

Ambassador Metternich knelt down to meet Elsa face to face. He'd served on battlefields before retreating to diplomacy, and he knew the look of someone who'd just seen combat. "Steady on, lad — Your Majesty. You're all right. Now look at me. That's good, just look at me." His kindly eyes and pushbroom moustache, and his calm, were comforting. Her face relaxed. "Now tell me what's happening."

As Astrid and Jenna bundled Ingrid in the tablecloth, Elsa told him, "She's freezing. Save her. And lock him up. He hurt her. Ask Weselton."

"Weselton?"

"The Duke. In the gamekeeper's cottage. Ask him." She came back to the present, and smiled grimly. "Tell him Queen Elsa says so." Then, "No!" She turned to Astrid and Jenna. "Don't rub her hands. You'll hurt her. Dry her off, keep her warm. Give her something hot to drink."

"But — "

"Do as she says, girl," added Metternich. "If anyone knows the cold, she does."

Elsa turned to the ambassador. "Lock him up. Will you do that? Keep him safe."

"Prince Hans, isn't he? Don't worry, I won't let him hurt anyone." Then, more to himself, "I know what it's like to have a disappointing son."

Elsa had meant, "Keep him safe _from me_," but she didn't have the energy to correct Metternich. "I have to talk to the king. And make sure she's all right."

She swayed a little. "But first I need to lie down for a moment." She fell sideways to the floor and passed out.


	15. Thou Good And Faithful Servant

Author's Note: Chapter 14 has been rewritten. If you don't want to reread it, see the reviews for a summary of the changes.

* * *

Hans awoke to a ball of cloth being forced into his mouth. He tried to fight but he was swaddled, bound to the bed. A shadow against shadows loomed over him. It spoke in a gentle, female voice.

"I apologize for interrupting your sleep, Your Highness. You've suffered a concussion, and you may be a bit disoriented."

He looked around desperately. From what he could see from the warmthless moonlight he was in a bedroom, set up for convalescence. Something had struck his head, and then…well, he wasn't clear on the details.

The shadow continued. "Your Highness is awake? Good. I'm going to be killing you soon, and I wanted to give you two minutes to collect your wits and make peace with God. I'm afraid we don't have much time." The figure disappeared from view.

He struggled. Somehow the bedsheet itself was restraining him. He could move a little, but he couldn't raise an arm or kick a leg, or even roll over. He tried screaming for help, but the best he could manage was "Mmmmh!" _What is happening? Who is this woman? What does she want? What the hell?_

Exactly 120 clock-ticks later, the figure reappeared. "I hope that was enough time. I'd ask if it was, but I'm afraid you're a notoriously persuasive liar, so we'll just have to carry on. Now, I'd like to put your mind at ease as much as I can. I won't be killing you as a punishment, or for justice, or revenge. I'm not doing this because I hate you, although I do. I do hate you. I hate you very, very much. You tried to hurt my queen, twice, and you tried to hurt her sister, and you tried to hurt me." He felt the bed shake as she gripped the bed rails. "I would gladly crawl into Hell itself if I was sure I could drag you with me and keep you there. And while I will do what I can to make your death as painless as possible, you will feel some discomfort, and I will enjoy seeing you suffer."

The bed was suddenly motionless, and he heard her take a deep, calming breath and blow it out. "I'm sorry. That's not worthy of me. I apologize. As I was saying, the only reason I'm doing this is because you tried to kill Queen Elsa tonight, and you tried to kill her after her coronation, and if you live I'm sure you will try again. And I cannot permit that. I cannot permit that. I cannot lose her. I couldn't bear it. Not again."

_Not again? What the hell is she on about?_

She vanished from view as she straightened up, regained her composure, and bent down to speak softly to him again. "Now, I understand if you're upset with me. You probably want me to suffer for what I'm about to do. I assure you, I will. I do this very regretfully, and I'm sure I will remember this 'til my dying day." He saw her put a hand to her face in embarrassment. "Oh dear. That was a very poor choice of words. I do apologize. I don't mean to cause you undue distress. As to my suffering, I suspect it will be entirely emotional. Your death will look like a complication of your concussion, and I doubt anyone would be suspicious. As things are, I suspect no one will look closely. I'm sorry to say you are not currently held in high regard. Still, since your plot backfired so decisively, it's not as if you're giving up as much as you'd hoped to have."

His killer gently laid her hand on his forehead. "If only Your Highness had been grateful for all that you had. Even in exile, you could have pursued anything you liked: science, art, debauchery. And the same fate that kept you so far from a throne kept you from the pressures and responsibilities of office. Queen Elsa loves her people, and cares for them, and sometimes it's a terrible burden on her. You had wealth and freedom that most people would never know. And you threw it away. For pride. It's very sad."

_This can't be happening._ Suddenly, it made sense to him._ Of course! This is a dream! Being killed by that girl? That strip of smoked eel? Being pitied by her? It's impossible. I'm Prince Hans. It cannot be my destiny to __die at the hands of__ a limp dishrag of a girl._ He started to chuckle, but the sound was muffled by his gag. It occurred to him that 'a limp dishrag' might be exactly what had been stuffed in his mouth. It suddenly stopped being amusing.

"You have to understand. You were ready to kill for power, prestige, respect. For things. People like you kill for that. People like me, we don't. We kill — and we die — to protect the people we love. That's why I have to do this. I can't put the weight of this on my queen. I have to protect her. From people like you."

The hand lifted off his forehead as she got back to business. "Here I am, boring you with my opinions. That was a terrible liberty I took." He tried to say _No, no, go on._ He was in no hurry to die. But she thought he was simply agitated. "Now, as I said, I'm afraid you'll feel some discomfort. If you have the urge to thrash around, go ahead. You won't hurt yourself. I have some experience with restraining people, and you're perfectly safe. I, um, if you understand what I mean. Also, as you die, you may lose control of your bowels and bladder. This is perfectly normal, and no one will think less of you. And the people who take care of you are used to cleaning up that sort of mess." The voice in the dark turned thoughtful. "People like you make messes, and people like me clean them up. It's our job. It's the way of the world. We're used to it." She paused and nodded to herself. "People like you make messes, and people like me clean them up."

It occurred to him that he wasn't dreaming. He wasn't going to talk his way out of this. No one was going to come to his aid. He couldn't scheme or manipulate his way out of this corner. This wasn't one of the many jokes or pranks that his brothers had pulled on him over the years. He was really, really going to die.

She fetched a bottle and a funnel, and returned to his bedside. "One last thing, Your Highness. This is a terrible imposition, and I apologize for putting myself forward, especially under these circumstances, but I would like to ask you a favour if I may. I know you're unlikely to feel favourably towards me, but I have to ask."

He didn't know what to think.

"If you've made your peace with God and asked for His forgiveness, and if there is a Heaven, there is a possibility that you will go there. Would you look for my brother, please? His name is Anders Viktor Andersen. He's from Lillefjord in Arendelle. He loves to read, and he's very kind, and usually very happy. His hair and eyes are a lot like mine, although his hair would be shorter. I can't be more specific since I expect he'd have a healthy body by now." She stared in Hans' eyes, and he was trapped by her intense gaze. "Tell him I love him, and I miss him, and I wish him well. Tell him if I never get to see him again because of what I'm doing tonight, that I'm very very sorry, and I'll miss him, and I apologize if he misses me. But tell him not to be sad, because these are the sacrifices we make for the ones we love."

And the last thing Hans ever heard from a living being was the word "love."


	16. Comforters

The moment someone answered her urgent ringing of the bell-pull, Elsa asked, "How is she? Is she all right?"

"She's fine," said Queen Rapunzel. "She sent a letter by fast ship. It just arrived this morning."

"What?" Elsa rubbed the grogginess from her eyes. _Ingrid sent a ship?_ And then, "Punzy? Why are you here?"

"We _are_ cousins. I thought it'd be better for you to see family when you woke up, after, you know, last night."

Elsa smiled gratefully and combed her hair back with her fingers. "Thank you. Now what's this about a – "

"Is she decent?" asked a male voice through the bedroom door. "Or are you parking me in the hallway all morning? Which is okay; I brought cards."

Elsa nodded, and Rapunzel said, "Come on in, Eugene."

As he entered, Elsa mouthed _Solitaire?_

Rapunzel replied _Cheating_ and mimed tucking a card up her sleeve.

Eugene sauntered in and leaned against a bedpost. "Cotton-top! I thought I'd seen some smooth operators, but you managed more diplomacy passed out and horizontal than the rest of those dullards could do awake and standing on their hind legs."

"What do you mean?" Elsa turned to Rapunzel. "And what letter? And how's Ingrid?" She looked to the heavens. "And could someone _please_ get me some really strong tea?"

"Eugene, honey, we're overwhelming her. Now be a dear and go get her some tea. I'll bring her up to speed."

"But sweetie…" Rapunzel gave him a stern look. Deadpan, he asked, "Milk? Honey?"

"Lemon, thank you," said Elsa, and he left, sighing dramatically.

Rapunzel pulled a chair up beside the bed. "Now, you're going to want to read this first," she said, and handed Anna's letter to Elsa. "I'm pretty sure it's good news."

Elsa broke the seal on the letter.

_Dear Elsa:_

_First off, don't freak out, because everything's fine. I'm fine, Arendelle's fine, everybody's fine. But we did kind of get invaded a little._

_Don't freak out._

_It was a bunch or squad or whatever of mercenaries trying to barge into the capital and pull a coup, but we totally ambushed the vanguard (vocabulary word!) and scrambled their plan. I personally led the troops, which I wish you could've seen because you would've been so proud of me unless you freaked out which, let's be honest, you probably would. I'll tell you more when we're face to face. Anyway, the borders are secure, we're mopping up stragglers, and everything's under control._

_Except that you should know that Prince Hans-Jerkface of Jerkfaceia is behind it all, and is probably going to try something while you're in the Southern Isles, so watch out for that. I know he's supposed to be stuck at Faroe Island but he isn't, so keep an eye open. Come to think of it, maybe you should just come home now. Also it would be really great if you were here, and not just because I miss you lots. Which I do._

_Short letter, because I have army things to take care of. Anyway I'm okay, invasion is disrupted, and watch out for Princejerk Hansface._

_All my love,  
your sister Anna,  
commander pro tempore of Arendelle's armed forces._

"Thank God," said Elsa, and relaxed into the pillows that were supporting her. She told Rapunzel, "Anna's safe, and everything's under control. I suppose you know about Hans' plan."

"News travels fast. And once they broke the Duke of Weselton out of that cottage, he spilled the beans to anyone who'd listen. His version, anyway. He seemed pretty shaken up. Did you scare him or something?"

"You're so sweet, Punzy. I hope you never find yourself in that position," said Elsa. "How's Ingrid? The girl?"

"Fine. Sleeping. But forget her, how are _you_ doing? Better?"

"I just needed some sleep. It was a — "

"Knock knock," said Eugene from the other side of the door. "Little help? I've got my hands full." Rapunzel let him in and he entered with a bed tray loaded with a teapot, three cups, lemon wedges, and a plate heaped with vanillekranse. "There ya go." He set the tray over Elsa's lap and helped himself to some of the cookies. Rapunzel and Elsa looked at him. "What?" he said through a mouthful of vanillekranse. "I thought she'd feel self-conscious eating by herself." He filled a teacup. Rapunzel held up a vanillekranse and looked at him skeptically. "Seriously, the cookies were not my idea. Magical queen collapses after rescuing a chambermaid? Every servant in the castle loves you. If I hadn't stopped them they'd be trooping in here with jam rolls, marzipan, and a full-size kransekake, singing the Arendelle national anthem." He was about to drink when Rapunzel cleared her throat and nodded at Elsa. "Oh. Of course. Some tea, Your Majesty?" He offered Elsa the cup.

"Thank you." As she took the cup and squeezed lemon juice into it, she asked, "What were you saying before about my diplomacy? While I was unconscious?"

"Oh, that. Well, you know how at the big banquet? The soup…thing? Even with your whole…" He tossed a cookie in the air and caught it in his mouth, referring to her trick with the piece of frozen soup. "…joke, we could tell you were feeling a little, um…" He looked to Rapunzel.

"Conspicuous."

"Conspicuous, with your powers. And people have never really been sure what to think about that whole business. 'Are they real?' 'Can she control them?' Turns out, if you use your magical powers to rescue a fragile girl from a murderous bastard, people approve. Not to mention making a hell of a dramatic entrance. Now you're a hero and everyone wants to be your ally. You are everyone's second-favourite magical queen _ever_."

Elsa paused, teacup halfway to her lips. "Second favourite?"

"C'mon," he said, nodding at Rapunzel. "Look at that face. Who couldn't love that face?" He grinned at his wife, and she smiled lovingly back. "Nothing personal, Cotton-top."

"No offense taken." Elsa took Rapunzel's hand. "Thank you for being here for me this morning." She turned to Eugene. "And thank you for defending me from jam rolls. But if the two of you will excuse me, I need to get dressed and work out some things with King Frederik. Oh, and check up on the girl."

"Are you sure you're fine?" asked Rapunzel.

"Absolutely. I wasn't the one who went through what the girl did. I was just exhausted after a very trying day. Now go make moon-eyes at each other somewhere else and let me get dressed."

"Don't let me stop you."

"Eugene!" Rapunzel play-slapped his arm.

"Kidding. Kidding!" They said their goodbyes and Rapunzel led him out of the room.

As the two of them walked back to their rooms, Eugene said, "Did you notice she started off saying 'Ingrid' but switched to 'the girl' later on?"

"I did, yes."

"What do you think it means?"

"I think it means we should mind our own business, Eugene."

"You know what you're problem is? You're not cynical and suspicious."

"My problem is that the father of my child is a goofball."

"True." He put his arm around her and they continued down the hall.

* * *

The matronly nurse at Ingrid's bedside curtseyed and said, "Good morning, Your Majesty." Ingrid nodded and said the same.

Elsa took a quick look at the room where Ingrid was recovering. It wasn't nearly the size of the rooms Elsa had been given, but it was clean, bright, and certainly more spacious than the servant's quarters Ingrid had been sharing. Most importantly, there was a fireplace keeping the room warm.

Elsa smiled her official smile. "How's our patient this morning?"

"Much better, Your Majesty," said the nurse, bobbing like a balloon as she nervously repeated her curtsey. Elsa and Ingrid shared a glance of recognition. "Ingrid's nearly fully recovered, thanks to you, ma'am." She bobbed again, and Elsa smiled indulgently.

"Could you give us some privacy? I'd like to speak with Ingrid and make sure everything's all right."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"I'll ring when we're done."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Would there be anything else I can — that is..." The nurse paused, thinking how not to violate protocol by asking a direct question of a sovereign. "If there is anything else I can do, ma'am, I would be honoured to do…so. Ma'am."

"No, thank you. Wait, yes. Please give my thanks to everyone who took care of Ingrid."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The nurse beamed like the summer sun. Elsa waited for a moment, then nodded meaningfully towards the door. "Oh, yes ma'am. Right away, ma'am." The nurse went to the door, remembered to turn and curtsey, and left.

Elsa turned to Ingrid and her official smile turned real. "How's my Mouse?" she asked, fussing with Ingrid's comforter and pillows. "Comfy in her nest?"

"Very comfy, thank you. This may be the happiest I've ever been."

"Even after...everything?"

"Yes."

Elsa leaned in and kissed her.

Ingrid's short sound of surprise faded into a moan of pleasure. As Elsa leaned back, Ingrid said, "I was mistaken. _This_ is the happiest I've ever been. So far." She stretched, smiling languorously.

Elsa startled her by hopping up to sit on the edge of the bed, and then taking her hands. "Are you feeling all right, Ingrid? Recovering?" She stroked Ingrid's hair and put a hand on her forehead, feeling for chills or fever.

"They won't stop fussing over me. You have to tell them to let me get up and back to work."

"Your work, my brave little Mouse," Elsa said as she beeped Ingrid's nose, "is to rest and get well enough to come home to Arendelle. Your queen commands it."

Ingrid looked at her hands, held in Elsa's. She looked at Elsa again, her eyes earnest. "Last night, I was...before I swooned, I wasn't clear about everything, but there was something you said. To me."

"I said I loved you." And Elsa felt it in her heart again. It was as different from her love for Anna as, well, as Anna was from Ingrid. But just as real.

"I'll treasure that. But sometimes, in a crisis, people..."

"People say things they don't mean?"

"No! I would never think that. I know you meant it. At the time. I just..."

"I love you, Mouse. I do. More than ever."

"I love you too, Elsa." Elsa noticed that it was the first time Ingrid had ever used her name without hesitating. Elsa felt strangely proud. She stroked the stray hair off Ingrid's forehead and kissed her again. It was slow, passionate and comfortable. She pulled back and watched the expressions play across Ingrid's face: breathlessness, lust, devotion, love. This was not a love that would burst her heart apart. This was a love that made her quietly and deeply happy.

"I'd better let you get some rest. Did you finally sleep through the night like the nurses told you to, or did you get up in the middle of the night again?" Out of nowhere, Ingrid's expression turned sombre. "What's the matter? I was just teasing, I'm sorry if — "

"I killed Prince Hans," she blurted.

_What numbskull told her Hans died in the night?_ "No, Ingrid. You didn't." She hugged Ingrid close to her, and murmured in her ear. "No no no no no. He died of complications from his concussion." _He choked to death on his own vomit. God, please let no one tell her that detail._ "It was an accident."

Ingrid began sobbing. "I killed him."

"No, Ingrid, no. Everything's all right. It's what they call a 'medical misadventure.' No one could've predicted it."

"But — "

"It's nothing to do with you, Ingrid. You were acting in self-defence, and in _my_ defence, when you dropped that ice on him. No one could possibly blame you." Elsa leaned back to look in Ingrid's eyes and raise a conspiratorial eyebrow. "Besides, the King's Men don't even believe it was you. They're pinning the blame on Finn Rejdersen, notorious Arendelle secret agent." She grinned devilishly. "One of the mercenaries disappeared, so they figure he was Rejdersen in disguise." She chuckled, and hoped the news could lift Ingrid's spirits, but it only layered confusion over the girl's despair. "Anyway, even if you had deliberately killed him with that block of ice, you were acting in service of your queen and of Arendelle. Please don't waste any grief on him. You did everyone a great service." _She can even feel sorry for Hans. That girl is too good for her own good._

Ingrid knew that, strictly speaking, Elsa had just explicitly approved of her killing Hans. But "strictly speaking" wasn't good enough for her conscience. She gazed at Elsa's beautiful eyes with a forwardness she'd never dared before. She saw how hard Elsa was trying to comfort her, how much she cared, and Ingrid couldn't bear to hurt her with the truth. _It's selfish of me to want to put this burden on her. It's mine to carry. She can be safe and happy now._

Ingrid sniffled. "I'm sor— "

"Don't you dare apologize, young lady," mock-scolded Elsa. "You've been brave and clever, and you've done nothing wrong. Now relax and rest, and as soon as you're up to it we're going home. If you must work on something, you can finish the story of _The Beautiful White Cat And The Heroic Little Mouse._"

"With respect, that's not the title."

"With respect," and Elsa booped her nose again, "it is now."

* * *

In Arendelle, Anna had just left a meeting with her councillors. Before, she would've been bored and drained after a meeting, but now she was energized. She had found her confidence and her voice, and she enjoyed being engaged with the work of ruling. Her meetings may have been louder and less organized than Elsa's, but they were definitely more interesting.

She bounced down the hallway, filled with excess energy._ I have got to find Kristoff and talk to him about this._ Her smile turned into a smirk. _To the devil with talking. When I find him I'm going to climb him like a mountain, fell him like a tree, and ride him like a horse._ She headed for her rooms to change into something less formal (and easier to remove.)

She burst through the doorway. "Kristoff! What are you doing in my rooms?"

"Nothing!" He jumped like a guilty schoolboy. "Er, that is…"

"Were you waiting here for me?" She looked at him sidewise.

"Uh, yeah. I mean— "

"Way ahead of you, Ice Boy." She started to drag him from her receiving room to her bedroom.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Could you hold up for a minute? Do we have to go right in there?"

She put her fists on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you telling me you _don't_ want to accompany me into the bedroom?"

"Well, no. I mean, yes. I mean, of course I'd want to…"

"Good." She resumed leading him into her boudoir. Once inside, she kissed him fiercely and hugged him with all her strength, leaving him literally breathless for a moment. _He certainly didn't hesitate then._

"Anna, please. Could we talk for a moment?"

"If you're sure you'd rather talk."

"Just…stand there." He took her shoulders and set her square in front of himself, at arm's length. "No, like this." He spun her around so she was facing away. "Just give me a moment."

Irrepressibly curious, she peeked behind herself and saw Kristoff kneel down beside the bed. A triangle of black fabric poked out from under the bedskirts. She pounced on it. "What's this?" She pulled a maid's uniform from under the bed. "Why Kris-toff," she said, sing-song. "You want me to play dress-up? I've heard about things like this from some of the servants but I didn't think I'd get a chance to try it out myself."

"Anna, you don't understand."

"But next time don't hide things under the bed. Now I need a clothes brush." She headed for her closets.

"Anna, stop!"

She yanked open the closet door. _**"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"**_

Inside was the chambermaid, Lissi, wearing nothing but her underclothes, her face pale and her mouth open.

"Anna, please, let me explain," pleaded Kristoff.

"Explain _that!_" She pointed at Lissi, who was trying to hide behind the dresses.

"I…have no idea."

"I do. I have a hell of a good idea." She flung the uniform at Lissi. "You! Get the hell out." Lissi frantically struggled into her uniform. "Did I say get dressed first? Get. The hell. Out. Out of my closet, out of my rooms, out of the castle. And don't come back. In fact, don't bother getting your things. I'll have them forwarded to the nearest brothel."

Lissi's lip trembled. Her eyes filled with tears. "Please, I didn't— "

"Good thing, too. Now did I stammer? Do you speak Arendellan? _GO!_" Clutching her clothes to her chest, Lissi fled. "As for you, Ice Boy…"

Kristoff backed up, his hands raised in surrender. "Honestly, it's not what it looks like."

"Really? Because it looks an awful lot like you and Miss Pantelettes were about to use my bed to…to…Dammit, Kristoff! How could you kiss me when your little trollop was right there?"

His voice soft, his arms out to her, Kristoff gently approached her. "Now, Anna, please calm down for a moment and—OOF!" Using a technique she'd learned from the Arendellan Guard, she had swept her leg and knocked his feet out from under him.

"Oh for Satan! I am _never_ trusting anyone, _ever again!_" She put her foot on his chest. "You are not the Royal Ice Harvester and Deliverer. You are nothing. You are banned from the castle. You are…you are banned from the city. Pack up and take off, and if you enter the city limits ever again, you are going straight to the dungeons, and Sven…well, Sven didn't do anything wrong." She suddenly realized that she had put herself in a position where he could look straight up her dress. His eyes were squeezed shut, but he might've. "But you! You…stinky, ill-bred, ugly, stupid, Sami bastard! Get out! I never want to see you again!" She kicked him in the ribs, hard.

He looked at her with the expression of a whipped puppy, but it wasn't going to work on her. She made a start on never seeing him again by turning her back. When she'd heard him leave, she rang so hard for a servant she nearly broke the bell-pull.

Helga came running and curtseyed, confused and worried by Anna's red-rimmed eyes. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Helga, thank God you're here. I can trust you, right?"

"Of course, ma'am."

"Right. First, fetch Gunther. I have some laws to pass. One exile, one…it doesn't matter. Just get him. And a bottle of that cherry liqueur, you know the one I like. And a glass. And another bottle. And a cake. The richest, thickest cake in the kitchen. Forget the cake, just bring me a bowl of icing." Anna shook her head and looked around the room for nothing in particular.

"Will that be all, ma'am?"

Anna faded like a clockwork toy running down. "Clean handkerchiefs. I'm gonna need a hell of a lot of handkerchiefs today."


	17. Hard And Soft

"Well, everything has gone to shit," said King Frederik as Queen Elsa entered his main office. She paused, startled by the outburst. "No reflection on you, of course. It's been this way all day." He waved away the two clerks who had been attending him. "Go get yourselves something to eat and be back in half an hour. But straighten this up before you go."

Elsa looked around as the clerks gathered and organized the chaotic papers. Frederik's office was half again the size of hers, but contained less furniture. The bookshelves competed for space on the dark wood-panelled walls with hunting trophies and weapons. There were only two high stools to sit on, and instead of a desk or conference table he used a couple of sloping draughtsman's tables, pushed up against the walls, leaving the middle of the room empty. She put her hand on one of the tables. "This is different."

"Can't stand desks. Can't stand tables," said Frederik. The clerks, a gangly black-haired young man and his shorter, thicker, bespectacled counterpart, bowed to the royalty and left. "If I can't move I can't concentrate. Not on that kind of stuff, anyway. I tell you, for two kroner I'd make this a constitutional monarchy and let people govern themselves for a change."

"Trade your _krone_ for two kroner? Sounds like a good deal."

"I think I actually'd do it, if I could trust anyone else to run the country properly." He wiped imaginary dirt off his hands and onto his pant legs. "Something to eat?"

"I suppose so." She followed him into a smaller velvet-wallpapered room where a heavy wooden table was laden with pålæg, rye bread, beer and akvavit.

He waved her to a chair, not holding it for her, and sat down once she had. Without ceremony he began to assemble an open-faced sandwich of leverpostej, agurkesalat, and a generous dollop of remoulade. "That akvavit's not frozen to the table, is it?" Elsa took the hint, poured herself a schnapps glass of the potent clear liquor, and passed the bottle to Frederik. "Skål," he said, the toast sounding like a command. He drained his glass at one go as Elsa took a long sip of hers. It tasted pleasantly of caraway and fire. She felt the alcohol vapors fill her nose and mouth. Frederik had already chased his with a swallow of beer and returned his attention to his sandwich. "I'd kill for some esrom right now." He looked up at her. "Oh. Sorry." Elsa's bland expression didn't show offense or forgiveness. He gave a tiny shrug and continued. "We have some damn good esrom, but I can't meet and greet everyone smelling of cheese. I have a wedding, a funeral, and an aborted coup to manage, but god forbid I should offend someone with my breath."

"Yes," said Elsa, spreading pink cod roe on a slice of rye. "My condolences on the loss of your son, of course." Behind her mask of bland officiousness, Elsa didn't know what to say, or what to think. _Condolences on the loss of your murdering bastard? It's a tragic loss, but at least he didn't kill Ingrid or me? _She glanced up to see how he was taking it.

He took her statement for the empty gesture it was. "You remember when I said I wish you'd executed him? Save us some trouble?" Elsa nodded. He looked up, his food forgotten. "It's one thing to say it when he's alive. Today?" He looked down and shook his head. "Make no mistake. I'm glad he was stopped. And I didn't suddenly forgive him when I heard he'd passed. All the same." He looked into his beer stein as if there were answers written in the bottom, then set it down untouched. "He got his looks from his mother, you know. And his cleverness. Made it hard to be around him. He didn't get any of her heart, though. Every now and then he'd do something the way she did, or say something like she would, and it was…" He smiled, remembering. "Then he'd do something nasty or sneaky and he was Hans again." His smile vanished with the memory.

Elsa tried to think of something wise or profound to say, but only came up with, "That sounds very sad."

He nodded, sighed. "Yes. Yes it was. I'm never going to like him, and I'm not sorry he's dead, but somehow I'm still going to miss him." He shook his head again, and refilled his schnapps glass. "Skål," he said, matter-of-factly. He drank and Elsa sipped. "I've disowned him, by the way."

Elsa tilted her head. "Really? Now?"

"Retroactively. So I'm not obliged to drop everything and give him a state funeral. And my men can treat it as a civilian death, not a…princepicide, I guess you'd call it."

Elsa put her sympathy aside and got back to work. "And it gets you off the hook, as far as a member of the royal family committing an act of war. Legally, at least."

He picked up on her tone. "What do you mean?"

"Hans wasn't wise, and he wasn't good, but you can't deny he was clever. As he said to me, it's about what people _see_. And heads of state from all over Europa saw a helpless girl nearly killed by _your_ son, on _your_ castle grounds, while he was staging a coup against one of _your_ guests, who collapsed trying to save her. I didn't plan it that way; I'm not Hans. But there it is." She put her palms together and touched her fingertips to her lips thoughtfully. "Now, you and I know you had nothing to do with it. And I suppose a lot of them know that too. But it's not what they _saw_. And it doesn't look, mmm, reassuring." She almost felt guilty about hitting him when he was down. But from a practical standpoint, that was the best time to hit him.

He raised his head up. "What did you have in mind?"

"Remember when you said you'd consider reopening trade, but only if I married you?"

Hope flickered in his eyes, and vanished just as fast. "Of course."

"Why weren't you worried I'd use my magic against you?"

"I could see that whatever magic you had, you were very reluctant to use it. And my sense of you is, that's not the sort of person you were."

"You're right. That's not who I was." She touched the akvavit bottle with a fingertip. Frost blossomed across the bottle as it dropped to freezing. "Not yesterday." She refilled her glass.

"So you're threatening the Southern Isles with your magic." He sat straighter, fully engaged. This was politics as he understood it.

"No, of course not. At the moment I'm the hero of the day. I'm not losing that if I don't have to. But if you're the least bit mean to me, or if I _say_ you've been mean to me, it puts you on his side. In their eyes. And a country that exports as much as the Southern Isles can't afford to have a villain for a king. But if you are kind and generous to Arendelle, that makes you a hero. Practically a saint. They'll eat it up. And at a wedding? Everyone celebrating? You could almost outshine the happy couple themselves."

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her over his beer stein. "And what do you want?"

"Don't be like that, Frederik. You're not really giving up anything. The more generous you are now, the better off in the long run. You should be looking for opportunities to be nice to me."

"But you have some thoughts to get me started."

Elsa pulled out some papers and started laying them down on the table, carefully away from the remoulade. The first packet hit the table with a _thp._ "Import-export treaty. Rather favourable to Arendelle. But as you said, we're a much smaller trading partner than you, so it's no great hardship."

Another _thp._ "Defense treaty. If anyone attacks Arendelle, the Southern Isles will come to our aid."

"And if anyone attacks the Southern Isles?"

"I'm sorry, no. I will not commit myself and my powers to anyone or anything except Arendelle. But it is a mutual non-aggression pact as well, so I'll never freeze all your ships in your harbours and bring your trade to a halt. That's good, right?"

Considering that he'd been worried about that very thing, it was good news indeed.

One more _thp._ "Reparations."

"_What?_ How can there be reparations when we were never at war?"

"Let's not bicker over technicalities. Call it a 'goodwill gesture,' then. Besides, it's nothing big. Just a couple of islands in the West Indies you've colonized. You're hardly using them."

He knew the islands she was talking about, and in fact they hadn't been contributing much to the royal coffers. "But what do you want with them?"

Elsa's queen-face softened for a minute. "Sugar plantations. I want to add almond and cocoa trees."

He thought about it for a moment, then he grinned despite himself. "You want Arendelle to make its own chocolate-covered marzipan."

"And kransekake. For Anna. She has a sweet tooth."

He laughed heartily. "It looks like you've mastered the art of negotiation."

Elsa shrugged modestly. "In my circles we still call it 'blackmail.' But if it's a good deal for both sides, who can complain?"

"I'll look these over, and we might even announce them at the wedding reception tonight." Elsa looked away, her smile fading. "What is it?"

"I'd been thinking of leaving early. I want to see Anna and make sure she's all right."

"I see. Well, if the point is to make the Southern Isles look good, you need to be here, smiling and shaking hands. Besides, reports are that everything in Arendelle is fine. I'm sure she can manage one more day without you."

"I suppose so. Oh, one more thing." Frederik waited for the next bundle of papers. "No, nothing official. It's just the girl. Ingrid."

"Yes?"

"I'd like her to come with me to Arendelle and be my personal maid. It's the least I can do for her."

"Besides saving her life. Very well. I'll tell Møller about it."

"Oh, and I almost forgot." She pulled a couple of sheets of paper out of her bag. "These are the people in your castle who were supporting Prin— supporting Hans. And what they've been up to." She handed them over.

He kept his face impassive, but Elsa could see his pupils dilate as he read the intelligence. He held up the papers. "The legendary Finn Rejdersen?"

With a look of serene blankness on her face, Elsa said, "I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a person."

Ingrid had been an effective spy on her own. But with a castle full of servants suddenly concerned for Elsa's welfare, she had eyes and ears everywhere.

"Very well. Can you spare time for an early lunch before the wedding ceremony?"

"Lunch? But…" She waved at the table full of food.

He blinked. "This? This is a snack."

"Very well. Lunch it is." _I guess when your nation is a major exporter of food, your table gets laid a little heavier._

She took her leave just as the clerks were returning. As she walked back to her rooms, she said to herself, "That went well." She smiled as it occurred to her that, as promised, trade with the Southern Isles would be reopened because of a wedding. Just not hers.

* * *

"That went well," said Elsa with a sigh, as she returned to her rooms late that night.

"I'm very glad to hear it, ma'am," said Ingrid, curtseying, then moving to Elsa's side. She smiled and touched Ingrid's cheek. Even now, the girl couldn't give up that little ceremony. It was sweet.

Ingrid took her cape as Elsa dismissed her ice shoes. The rest of her clothing was conventional, as a boost to Arendelle's clothing industry, but she couldn't give up the fit and coolness of the shoes she conjured for herself. "How was the ceremony?" asked Ingrid.

"Like a painting. Beautiful, and if you stare at it for an hour nothing moves." Ingrid tittered. "And the dresses. Everyone trying to outdo everyone else. Lissi would've loved it."

"Did they look happy? The royal couple? Truly happy?"

Elsa pictured Prince Harald and Queen Bjarndis at the altar, both of them proud and handsome. "Yes." She remembered the two of them sharing sly glances and whispered secrets at the reception, sometimes only needing a nod, a knowing look, and a smile to trade confidences. "Very happy."

"Good. I trust the negotiations all went well."

Elsa sighed, rolled the tension out of her shoulders. "Kiss me first." Ingrid offered her mouth and Elsa took it, pulling her close with one arm. They were relaxed and comfortable together, tiara and maid's cap set aside for the night.

Refreshed and happy, Elsa nuzzled Ingrid's ear, making her shiver. "You sure you want to hear about all that boring old politics?"

Ingrid gazed into her eyes. "I…I've forgotten my question." She kept a straight face for a second, then smirked. Elsa chuckled.

"Did you." Elsa let Ingrid undress her. "Well, King Frederik agreed to my proposals pretty much as I'd written them — some tweaks here and there — and managed to fit them into his speech at the reception. He has a way with words when he puts his mind to it."

"Or someone wrote it for him."

Elsa raised an eyebrow at Ingrid. _Little mice have big ears._ "Or someone wrote it for him, yes. In any event, there was much cheering and toasting. I've lined up a few more trade delegations, defense treaties, and so on. Mostly little countries that wouldn't think of moving against us, but it sets a good precedent. And no promises, but Andersen's Royal Table _might_ be adding 'By Appointment To The Royal Finlandic Court' to its label." Dressed only in her slip, Elsa stepped out of the rest of her clothes. Ingrid folded them neatly and put them away. "Oh, would you like to go somewhere sunny? I've agreed to visit the Kingdom of Eldora and the Moorish Caliphate later this year."

"Would you want to be away from…Arendelle that long?"

"I have some thoughts on that," said Elsa, smiling enigmatically. Ingrid didn't ask.

Elsa sat down at the vanity so that Ingrid could unbraid and brush her hair. They shared a companionable silence, only broken by occasional sighs and moans as Elsa felt the tension leave her body, Ingrid's hands running gently and rhythmically through her hair. When they were done, Elsa leaned back against Ingrid, who stroked Elsa's shoulders and upper arms. Finally, Elsa tilted her head back to look up at her. "I love you, Ingrid."

"I love you, Elsa. And I always will." Ingrid smiled adoringly at Elsa. Elsa beamed up at her.

"Time for bed," said Elsa as she stood up.

"Shall I be on my way, then?"

"I told Møller you're staying the night. I want you on hand to help me pack the minute I get up. I told him you'd be sleeping on the divan outside my bedroom."

"I'll make it up, then." She headed to collect bedding for herself.

"Ingrid." The girl stopped. "You're not _actually_ sleeping on the divan." Ingrid paused, then her mouth formed a silent _oh_ and her eyes lit up like a child at Christmas. "Now get undressed and come to bed."

In a couple of minutes Ingrid was snuggled under the blankets with her queen. In a low voice she said, "Elsa?"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to ask a question, if I may."

Ingrid's eyes were serious and a little sad. "Go ahead," said Elsa.

"All that time ago. The first time you called me to your study. Why me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were…" _Heartbroken. Estranged from Anna._ She didn't want to bring up bad memories, but she needed to ask. "You were very sad. And lonely."

Elsa nodded, and smiled crookedly. "I was."

"There must have been other people who offered to comfort you. Other people you could've gone to. Why me?"

Elsa stroked Ingrid's head, then pulled it close to kiss her forehead. "No, there weren't. I couldn't think of anyone to go to. Except Olaf, and frankly I wasn't in the mood. And no one else came forward."

Ingrid's eyes widened. "No one?"

"And I was pretty self-pitying about it at the time." Elsa smiled wryly at herself.

"So, I became your companion…by default."

"No. You saw I was in pain, and scared as you were — "

"Terrified," said Ingrid.

" — you had the courage to offer your friendship. To me. The scary monster in pain." Elsa kissed her gently. "Thank you."

Ingrid was about to say something self-deprecating, but she knew Elsa didn't want her to talk about herself like that. "My pleasure," she whispered.

"Speaking of pleasure," said Elsa, "do you remember the other night? When I was blindfolded and helpless, and you were…guiding me?"

"Yes. So you could think about Anna. That doesn't have to change. Not because of what you said. Would you like me to fetch the oilcloth package?"

"No, Ingrid. No. I only want to think about you tonight. But…"

"You'd…still like to be blindfolded?"

"If you don't mind. If it's all right with you."

"Anything you wish. But I don't understand." Ingrid looked at Elsa, then looked away. "Is it because I'm not pretty enough?"

"No! God, no." She took Ingrid's face in her hands and kissed her reassuringly. "There was something about the way it felt. Having you take care of me. Being in your hands. So to speak." She lay back and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling. "With, you know, everything that's been going on, I've had to be hard. The determined queen. The fierce warrior. In charge of everything. I don't regret it. I'm good at it. I love it. But tonight, I'm tired of being hard. I want to be soft. I'd like it if you were in charge of me for tonight." She looked at Ingrid, her blue eyes as open as her heart. "Would you do that for me? Please?"

Ingrid raised herself up on one arm, stroking Elsa's hair with her free hand. "Of course, my queen. Anything your heart desires." She kissed Elsa's forehead. "Now relax, and close your eyes. I'll be right back."

And she went to fetch the handkerchiefs.


	18. Safe Harbour

_It felt like dancing._

_At least, to Ingrid, it felt the way she imagined dancing would feel. She only knew dancing from novels. But the descriptions finally made sense to her. The pleasure of two bodies in harmony, moving in rhythm, touching, spinning. At least she felt like she was spinning. She led, the gentle pressure of her hands guiding and steering her partner. Her soft, radiant, beautiful partner. Elsa was the dance, but she was also the music that Ingrid conducted, the landscape that she painted and the canvas that she painted on. _

_Ingrid led, but she also followed. She was enraptured by her queen, attending to every gasp and whisper, sensing each muscle tensing in anticipation and relaxing in bliss. She could feel Elsa's pleasure flowing into her own body as if each touch was an electrical connection, to the point that she knew what would please Elsa before Elsa did. Elsa's eager movements, the tangle of their limbs, rocking under Ingrid's body or on top of it, her moistness, her wetness, the flush across her chest were divining rods that Ingrid used, dowsing for new springs of ecstasy. Elsa's body spoke to Ingrid, and she replied in kisses sweet or ravenous, touches gentle or stinging, embraces tentative or restraining, her tongue and fingertips reverently caressing or probing forcefully. Elsa's pleasure was her pleasure, and she would seek it anywhere, in any way she could._

_It felt like drifting._

_To Elsa, it felt like the mirror image of scattering into a snowcloud. This time she was dissolving into her body, not out of it. She left her ego to find her passion, not escape from it. She floated on breezes and gusts of sensation, gave herself up to it, let it carry her. Even as her body hungered and trembled, her soul was tranquil. For the first time since Anna, she had found someone she could trust completely. In the place where other people held defensiveness and self-interest and judgement, Ingrid was empty. Ingrid was a safe space where Elsa could let her defenses down and finally be vulnerable enough to open her body and her heart._

_She borrowed some of Ingrid's serenity and put her trust in the girl's explorations, discovering what her body enjoyed, things she hadn't even suspected about herself. But Ingrid was in charge. Ingrid would take care of her. Her soul relaxed, even as her body was shot through with fire and lightning._

_Finally she was so over-filled with her own rapture that she craved Ingrid's. Sensing this, the maid removed her queen's blindfold and presented herself. Elsa consumed Ingrid with her eyes, her hands, her mouth, her entire body. Ingrid was as receptive as ever, and knew better than to hide her exaltation. Elsa did some exploring of her own, discovering what she could do with a well-placed icy finger or frosty tongue-tip. Ingrid's moans were high and piping, sounding more like a woodwind than a girl._

_At last they sank, gasping, into angelic sleep. Elsa's dreams were untroubled and happy. Ingrid, for the first time in years, slept through the night._

* * *

It felt like crap.

Someone was knocking at Anna's bedroom door, and each tap drove a jagged nail into her skull.

"**Ow! Not so **— _not so loud_," Anna said, switching from shouting to whispering.

"Are you all right, dear?"

Only one person called her _dear_ like that. "Gerda? 'Zat you?"

Gerda let herself into Anna's bedroom. Gerda and her brother Kai had served the royal family since before Agdar and Idunn were born, let alone Elsa and Anna. Officially they were in charge of the staff, but these days they mostly puttered and gossiped, semi-reitred. Anna wasn't expecting Gerda to be the one answering her feeble twitch of the bell-pull. "How's Your Highness this morning, then?" Gerda asked gently.

Anna groaned and sat up. "It feels like my head is attacking my head." _That didn't sound right._ "I'm starving, except when I think about food, which makes me sick. I feel like I fell down every staircase in the castle. I mean I didn't, not any of them, it just hurts like it. My heart is racing, which is weird because the rest of me can't move at all. And my mouth…ugh. My mouth tastes like Loki's sweaty testicles." She remembered who she was talking to. "Sorry." And then, to herself, "But it does."

Gerda appraised the two bottles of cherry liqueur, one mostly empty, the other untouched. _Not too bad. Yet._ "Sounds like an ordinary hangover to me. It may not feel like it, but you'll live."

"That doesn't sound like good news right now." Anna blotted the cold sweat from her face with her bedsheet.

"Now sit up, dear, I have some things for you." She plumped up the pillows and helped Anna get settled in before she placed a bed-tray across Anna's lap.

"Tomato juice?" asked Anna, examining a glass.

"Mostly. And some spices and such. You drink that down and you'll start feeling better."

Anna tasted it, and winced. It was spicy, sour and bitter, but her stomach wasn't lurching. _It tastes so bad my stomach doesn't know it's food, I guess._ She managed a couple of swallows.

"After you're done with that," said Gerda, "have some of this tea. It's ginger and peppermint to settle your stomach, and willow bark to help with the headaches. And there's toast, when you're up to chewing on something."

Between the concoction and Gerda's soothing voice, Anna was starting to feel better. "I thought alcohol was supposed to make you feel better. I mean, I felt better for a while, but then I was crying, then really really woozy. Like seasick woozy. And now I feel horrible. I am never doing that again." She took another swallow of mostly-tomato juice, and thought about how angry and hurt she had felt last night. "Probably."

As she straightened the room, Gerda muttered to herself, "Runs in the family."

But not quiet enough that Anna couldn't hear. "What do you mean, 'runs in the family'? Did papa used to get like this?"

"Your father? No. When…things…got to be too much for him, he'd go riding or practice fencing or some such thing until he was exhausted."

Anna looked steadily at her. She held her glass in both hands. "So…mama?"

Gerda nodded. She kept tidying as she talked, as an excuse not to meet Anna's eyes. "She wasn't much for exercise, your mother. She certainly didn't go hiking up mountains like you do. Might've been good if she had. She was strong. She didn't look it, but she had a core of iron. But some days, it all got to be too much."

"You mean, taking care of Elsa."

"Oh, some, but you too. Maybe more."

"What? Me?" said Anna, and winced at her own too-loud voice. Softer, she said, "What did I do?"

"You? Not a thing, dear. You were the sweetest child. Her 'little blossom,' she called you." Gerda set down the clothes she'd been folding, and went to Anna's bedside to take her hand. "But with Elsa, hard as it was, at least they could be honest with each other. She had to lie to you, and keep you apart from Elsa, and never tell you why. And some days, when you thought Elsa was angry at you or you wondered what you did, when you hadn't done a blessed thing of course, well, your mother needed a little time to herself." Anna nodded. "You know, every single day Elsa would give her a hug and a kiss to give to you. Most days that made her feel better, but some days…"

"Hold on, Elsa really did that? Really?"

"Yes, dear. Every day."

"Wow. Every night mama gave me a hug and a kiss from Elsa, and a hug and a kiss from her. But I didn't think Elsa actually did that, I thought mama just said so to make me feel better. I had no idea." She stared at nothing, remembering. "Wow."

"Well, your Elsa will be back in a day or two. You can ask her about it then. Meanwhile a nice hot bath's already being drawn for you, and soon enough you'll be…not good as new, yet, but good enough for company."

A sharp knock at the door made Anna flinch. "Gerda, would you…?"

Gerda went to the door, spoke to the footman who was waiting there. When he left, she turned back to Anna. "You'd best get a move on. Seems your sister's already on the way."

"How? Are they sure?"

"If someone else can make a giant snowflake burst in the sky, I haven't heard about it."

Anna tried to bolt from her bed, but the sudden movement made her skull pound. "Ow! I've got to get a reception prepared, and…and…other stuff, and I'm in no condition to — "

"You take care of yourself, I'll handle the welcoming committee. And take that tea with you, it'll do you a world of good." _Your mother swore by it._ Gerda curtsied, then bustled out the door as Anna headed to the bath.

Half an hour later Anna was dockside, waiting for the _ANV Hæilví _to arrive. Willow bark tea, a hot bath, and the prospect of seeing Elsa had transformed her. Despite the bright sunlight drilling into her skull, she was eager and smiling. The Arendelle Military Band stood at the ready, their instruments shining. Barricades, attended by a handful of soldiers in dress uniform, kept a clear path to the waiting royal carriage while still letting a jubilant crowd watch and wait for the return of their queen. She recognized them from Baldur's Pass and gave them a cheery wave. They grinned and waved back until their commander glared at them.

A snow-flecked breeze washed up the fjord, mussing hair and bringing flags to life. Anna faced into the gust and saw the _Hæilví_ approach, its sails gravid with wind, sailors in heavy coats tending the lines. Anna smiled appreciatively and proudly. _So that's how she got home so fast._ Elsa's storm had pushed them swift and straight as an arrow to Arendelle. The chill subsided as the ship approached the dock, sails gone limp, and in a matter of minutes the gangplank was down and ready for Anna. At the bow, Elsa had been waving a welcome to her people, but when she saw Anna her smile became a grin and her decorous waving turned into enthusiastic semaphore.

The band struck up the Arendellan national anthem, _Sons Of Arendelle_. By Anna's order, instead of the usual dirge-like pace, they performed it as a quick march. She had always wanted it to be livelier and less glum anyway, but right now it meant she could stride up to Elsa and give her a big hug, stateliness be damned.

"Oh God, Elsa, you have no idea how good it is to see you." Her arms were tight around her sister, her face buried in Elsa's thick blond hair.

Elsa hugged her back just as hard. "I've been dying to see you. I have so much to tell you, the instant we can get some time together." She was bursting to tell Anna, _I think I've fallen in love with my lover, and you're the only one I can talk to about it._

They pulled back, still holding onto each other, and gazed lovingly in each other's eyes. Elsa shook her head a little in fond disbelief that they were back together after so much had happened. Anna just grinned like a schoolgirl.

A small girl in the crowd shouted, "Now kiss!"

To the sounds of gasps and embarrassed laughter, Elsa gave Anna a kiss on the cheek, and turned her face so Anna could kiss her back. As the crowd cheered, Anna rested her hands on the ship's railing and addressed them. "People of Arendelle, comrades in arms, friends. It has been a great honour to lead you in Elsa's absence. It's been very exciting. _Too_ exciting. I can't say enough about how grateful I am for your courage and loyalty. I thank you all. And nothing personal, but thank god that's over." The audience chuckled. She turned to her sister. "Elsa?" As they faced each other, in view of their people, Elsa put down a small cushion and descended gracefully to kneel in front of Anna.

Elsa tilted her face up to Anna, expectantly. Anna saw those beautiful blue eyes, filled with infinite love and unconditional trust, and forgot herself. She stood and looked at that vulnerable face and ceremony vanished from her mind, until the ship's captain discreetly cleared his throat.

"Oh yes." Anna took the tiara from her head. "I hereby declare that Queen Elsa Victoria Frigga Elinor Margrethe of Arendelle is the true regent and sovereign of Arendelle." She lowered the tiara to Elsa's head.

And missed.

_Perkele! I'm still too hungover to do this._ She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and tried again. With slow determination, as focused as she could manage, she lowered the tiara again.

This time she was sure of it. It wasn't her hands, or the ship rocking. Elsa had bobbed out of the way.

"Elsa! You stinker!" Elsa said nothing, her eyebrows raised in mild curiosity, her expression a cartoon of innocence. "Cut that out!" Anna feinted with the tiara and Elsa ducked her head to the side. Fists on her hips, Anna glared at Elsa, who quivered with suppressed laughter. "I don't know if you've heard, but I am a warrior princess now. You do _not_ want to mess with me." Elsa held it for an instant longer, then burst out laughing, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. Anna lost control completely and laughed even louder.

Before she could think, Anna reached out and pulled Elsa's hands away from her face. Elsa gasped, then kept on laughing. Anna fell to her knees, and they grinned at each other, weak with laughter. Finally, panting, Anna wound down enough to say, "I always wanted to see you laugh without you trying to hide your mouth."

Elsa, getting her breath back, asked, "How did I look?"

"Completely undignified. And wonderful." She sighed. They lingered for a while in their shared happiness. "So, shall we put this back on track?"

Elsa straightened up, still kneeling, and composed her face. Anna stood up and regained her poise. "Queen Elsa, true regent and sovereign of Arendelle," she proclaimed, and placed the tiara in Elsa's hair to the thundering applause and cheers of the crowd.

Elsa stood, and they descended the gangplank hand in hand. Elsa leaned in to whisper, "So where's Kristoff? He couldn't make it?"

In an instant Anna's face turned serious. "Don't ask. Just…don't." Elsa saw the look on Anna's face, and the words died on her tongue. Anna linked her arm with Elsa's, patted her forearm, and said, "I'm just so glad you're back." Anna's smile returned, laced with sadness but still warm and sincere.

Elsa smiled back, stashing away her questions. Concerned as she was, she couldn't bring herself to spoil the moment, to spoil Anna's joy by talking about Kristoff.

Or Ingrid.


	19. Bread And Roses

The two large trunks of the queen's luggage, as well as Ingrid and her satchel, were met in the courtyard by Helga, Kurt, and Axel. Helga had the boys haul the trunks and walked alongside Ingrid as they entered the castle.

Helga leaned in. "If you need something heavy lifted, get two boys to do it. They'll kill themselves showing off to each other." She grinned. "So, Ingrid, she's made you her personal attendant. Quite a jump up from chambermaid. You must be proud."

Ingrid was glad of the excuse to spend more time with Elsa, but was nervous about how it'd be received downstairs in the castle. She answered, truthfully, "I've always been proud to serve the queen."

"Always?" said Helga, smirking. "Even when you were mucking out chamberpots?"

"I would do anything for her."

Taken aback by the seriousness of Ingrid's answer, Helga changed tack. "So, is it true you saw Finn Rejdersen? What's he like?"

Ingrid turned away. Helga thought she was being bashful, but she was actually hiding a nervous grin. Composed, Ingrid turned back and said, "Isn't he just a character in some stories?"

"That's not an answer, girl."

As they climbed the stairs, heading to Elsa's rooms, Ingrid took the middle so that Helga could support herself on the railing. "I can't say."

"Oh, Ingrid, you don't have to keep secrets from me."

She thought about the things she had done for Elsa. "I'm afraid I do. I'm very sorry."

Helga felt a delicious thrill for all the wrong reasons.

They were met in Elsa's rooms by Solvej and Christina, who were dressed as chambermaids. Helga dismissed the boys, then looked expectantly at Ingrid. To Ingrid's discomfort, the girls were looking to her as well. She turned back to Helga. "Where would you like me to start?"

Helga pulled her aside. She tried to remember how Gerda had talked to her back in the day. "Ingrid, I can take over this once, but I don't recommend it. You're not just Queen Elsa's personal lady's-maid and attendant. She's made you her ama…some Greek word I can't remember."

Carefully repeating Elsa's pronunciations, Ingrid said, "Amanuensis."

"In these rooms, you're in charge."

"It's just that she likes having me handy."

"Be that as it may, you're going to have to start giving orders for a change. It'd be a bad start if you didn't take charge." Ingrid looked lost. "How did you used to feel when you looked to someone for orders, but they waffled?"

Despite a sudden pang at Helga using the past tense, she knew what Helga meant. She looked to others for confidence. Now Solvej and Christina were looking to her. _Like a cat. Like Mrs. Vinterhavn. I'm Elsa's right hand now._ She stood straight and relaxed and turned to the other maids. That is, to the maids.

"Have the rooms been aired out?"

Solvej spoke for the two of them. "Yes, ma'am."

The _ma'am_ tripped Ingrid for a moment, but she recovered. "And the bedding?"

"…no, ma'am."

"See to it. Christina, you can start unpacking Her Majesty's clothes. Do you know where they go?"

"Yes, ma'am. That is, mostly."

"Make a start, and I'll help you in a moment." The girls went to their tasks. Ingrid looked around at the space thoughtfully, and turned to Helga again. "Do you think it would be all right if I made some small changes?"

* * *

Elsa and Anna spent the day together, usually arm in arm, sharing stories and catching up. They had written each other daily, but only so much experience can fit in an envelope.

Elsa was delighted to see how little paperwork was left for her to do. She was proud to see how effectively Anna had taken over. Anna told her about coming into her councillors' meeting with bodyguards Stors and Kile, and described the councillors' reactions, complete with voices and expressions. When Anna got to the part about the Councillor for Schools and Orphanages, Elsa laughed with delight, remembering not to cover her mouth this time.

Anna promised a surprise for lunch, and arrived carrying the sword and wearing the chain mail and metal boots she had used at the Battle of Baldur's Pass. Elsa gasped at Anna's dashing, heroic figure. As Anna described the conflict over lunch, Elsa swung between being terrified for her sister and bursting with pride at her courage and cleverness. "They didn't figure out that there was only one Marshmallow, and the other three ice-houses were empty?"

"Empty? They were fakes. Canvas and paint, courtesy the Royal Arendellan Opera House. By the way, it's the _Royal_ Arendellan Opera House now, if that's okay."

"Of course it is. And it's nice to know that dragging you to the opera had _some_ benefit."

That afternoon Elsa told her about her negotiations with King Frederik, the heavy-handed marriage proposal, and later the treaties and the acquisition of what was now the Arendellan West Indies. The moment she mentioned almond trees, Anna shouted "Kransekake!" and hugged her again.

Over dinner they talked about Hans and his plot. Elsa spilled her tea, freezing it in midair, to demonstrate how she defused the tension about suddenly unleashing her power at the banquet. As Elsa tossed a droplet of tea in the air and caught it in her mouth, Anna exploded with laughter. "How did you even think of that? And so fast?"

"I just asked myself, 'What would Anna do?' Was I right?"

"Mmm, pretty much, yeah."

Anna forgot about her food as Elsa described her confrontations with the Duke of Weselton, the mercenaries, and finally Hans himself. "Wow," said Anna. "I wish I had been there. I mean, it was a bad thing, of course, and serious, but it would've been amazing to see that. You are amazing."

Elsa looked down, then smiled up at Anna. "Thank you. You were pretty amazing yourself at Baldur's Pass, and I wish I had been there to see it."

"You don't know how much I wished you were there. And not just to whip up a few more girls like Marshmallow."

"Girls?"

"Olaf says…well, never mind. I so wished you were there, so you could take over, but even if you didn't I wish you were there to talk to. It was exciting, and I'm glad we won of course, but still." Anna's voice grew small. "I don't want to have to make choices like that."

Elsa patted her hand. "And I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't have to. And I hope you never do, but I'm proud of you, and I'm glad to know you could if you have to."

Anna looked at her big sister, eyes shining. "Thank you." Sitting up, she took a deep breath and blew it out. "Anyway, I wonder how much of this stuff I can fit into the next Finn Rejdersen story."

"That reminds me, I have a present for you from cousin-in-law Eugene."

"That's right, he and Punzy were there. How are they?"

Elsa leaned in and whispered, "Pregnant." As Anna gasped and grinned, Elsa went on. "As to the present. He's written up some of his adventures from when he was Flynn Rider, so you can use them for your stories."

"Did you read them?"

"Yes. I'm…not sure they're all entirely true."

"Not that it matters, as long as they're exciting."

Elsa thought for a moment. "I suppose you're right." She sighed, and they dawdled over their desserts. _I wonder when she's going to tell me about Kristoff._ She wasn't sure how to bring it up. Finally, she said, "I didn't see Sven in the stables today."

"Elsa, _don't._ Just don't, okay?"

Elsa leaned in, about to speak, then stopped herself. She sat up, smiled warmly at Anna. "Whenever you're ready. And I won't mention it again." The plates were cleared. "If you don't mind, I'll go freshen up. And I want to see how Ingrid's settling in."

"Sure. Of course." They hugged warmly, and Elsa left for her rooms. Anna sighed. It had been a perfect day, not counting the early morning. She hadn't been this happy for a long time. And Elsa was as warm and wonderful as ever. _There's something missing. Something in her hugs. The way she took my arm._ She didn't want to think about what it was, or why it was making her unsettled.

* * *

Ingrid was waiting as Elsa entered her rooms. "Good evening, Your Majesty," she said, curtseying.

"Good evening, Mouse," Elsa replied, and Ingrid ran into her arms. They kissed gently, and Elsa released her. "How have you been manag— " She looked around. "Something's different. Oh!" Elsa looked around. "You brought me flowers." Elsa beamed. She hadn't spotted it right away because there wasn't a large bouquet demanding attention. Instead there were small vases dotted around: lavender on her vanity, Queen-Anne's-Lace on her writing table, damask roses on the windowsill, violets on her dresser.

"Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful. Quietly beautiful. Like you."

Ingrid dipped her head shyly. "It wasn't any trouble. They won't let me do any real cleaning or polishing anymore, so I had some time to run down to the flower shops."

"Shops? Plural?"

"I thought you might like some variety. I was going to ask you first, but I decided to be bold and present you with a fate accomplitt."

Elsa paused. "A what?"

Ingrid pulled in her shoulders. "A…fay-it accomplitt?"

Elsa smiled and stroked Ingrid's back. "Spelled_ f-a-i-t _?" Ingrid nodded. "It's pronounced _fait accomplit_," she said, with the trace of a Parisian accent she had learned from her tutor. "It's French."

"Oh." Ingrid's face fell. "I'm sorry. I should've known. I've been having thoughts above my station again. I apologize."

Elsa cupped Ingrid's chin in her palm and lifted up her face. "You have nothing to be sorry for. How could you have know? You didn't have the advantages I had. Which makes it much more impressive that you know what it means, than that I know how to pronounce it. And as for your station, it's whatever you want it to be. Our situation is, well, unique."

"It's…sooey generis?" said Ingrid with a faint smile.

Elsa laughed. "Yes, exactly." She kissed Ingrid's forehead, and whispered, "That's _sui generis_, by the way."

There was a knock at the door. Ingrid answered it as Elsa sat at her vanity, letting her hair down. The door shut, and Elsa said, "Yes?"

"With Her Highness' compliments," said Ingrid, and presented her with a small envelope

Elsa opened it.

_I can talk about it now._

_A._

Elsa stood up. "I'm sorry, Ingrid. I…" She shrugged.

"Anna?"

Elsa nodded.

"About Kristoff?"

Elsa almost asked how she knew, then simply nodded again.

"She must be upset."

Elsa nodded once more, and sighed. "I'm sorry, Ingrid."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. She needs you. Please, do anything you need to do, to make her feel better."

Elsa tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Ingrid kissed her cheek. "The more I love you, the more I want you to be happy. No matter what. She's your sister. You love her. Don't think about me, just go comfort her. I'll be fine."

"I'll be back soon," said Elsa, and Ingrid pretended to believe her.


	20. True Love's Kiss

"Anna?" Elsa knocked on the door to Anna's rooms.

"Come in, it's open." Her voice was flat.

Anna was sitting on her divan, arms in, head down. The sleeves of her emerald dressing gown swallowed her arms, the rosemaling on the hem nearly reaching the ground. She looked up at Elsa and forced a smile. "Sorry for taking you away from…whatever."

Elsa took the chair from in front of the vanity and turned it to face her sister. "Anything for you, Anna. Any time." She gestured at Anna's outfit. "I'm not interrupting anything?"

"I was changing, and I went into my closet, and, well… You'll understand when I tell you the whole story."

Elsa listened intently and sympathetically as Anna told her about what happened. From surprising a nervous and awkward Kristoff in her outer room, to his strange behaviour in the bedroom, to finding a half-dressed Lissi in her closet, to waking up with a hangover. This time, there were no impressions or acting out; just a straight-ahead recounting, her voice rough and occasionally cracking from crying.

As Anna finished, she stopped staring into the distance and made eye contact with Elsa, her teal eyes reddened. "What did I do wrong, Elsa? What did I do?"

"Nothing. You did nothing wrong."

"Am I too bossy? On the battlefield I was all, 'Don't touch the horse, Kristoff,' 'Keep your voice down, Kristoff,' 'Hold the reins while I go talk to the troops, Kristoff.' I mean I had to be, right? But maybe that scared him off."

"You had to be a leader, Anna. If he couldn't understand that, then, I don't know."

"Am I too dumb?"

"No, Anna."

"Am I too smart?"

"No such thing."

"You think it's my hair? Lissi has that curly brown hair."

"Your hair is beautiful. Luminous."

"You think it's…" She cupped her breasts, pushing them up.

"I — It's — It couldn't possibly be that."

"Then what's wrong with me?"

"Wrong with _you?_"

"That makes people treat me like this."

"There's nothing about you that could make Han — Kristoff do that. Nothing _makes_ people act like that. They just do."

"Then what is it? What did I do wrong? Why would he like her better?"

Elsa pulled her chair forward and took Anna's hands in her own. "You did nothing wrong, Anna. I'll say it as many times as you need to hear it; there's nothing wrong with you. You're perfect."

"I am not."

"You are. You are the world's best Anna, and that's a wonderful thing. You are perfect just the way you are. As to why he would like her better, I'm the wrong person to ask. I can't imagine liking anyone better than you. It's not possible."

"Sure," said Anna flatly, her head turned down and away.

"What is it? Anna?"

"Well, it's stupid."

"No it's not. I'm sure it's not."

"It is," said Anna, still looking away.

Elsa pulled her chair even closer, their knees touching, and stroked Anna's hair. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I love you, Anna, and I'm here for you."

"It's just…since you came back. The way you and Ingrid look at each other, I can see you're a lot closer. Don't worry, it's not obvious. But I can tell. And I'm happy for you, really I am. It's what I wanted for you all along. To be happy. But…"

"Anna, are you _jealous_ of Ingrid?"

"No, of course not. You and me, it's, well, it's great. I love you, and I feel really close to you. It feels so good to have you back. But there's that thing, which you know I was, well, I got used to…"

Elsa sat up, tilted her head. "Anna, what are you saying?"

"Well, Kristoff likes Lissi better, and you like Ingrid better. That way. And, you know, that's what I wanted all along, the you-and-her part. But now I kind of feel — It's stupid, forget it."

"Your feelings are not stupid, Anna. What is it?"

"I feel like nobody's gonna love me…_that_ way. Ever."

"Anna? No! That's impossible. You know how I've felt about you."

"Yeah, how you _felt_."

"You are just as beautiful and sexy as ever. You know it."

"I know it. But I don't _feel_ it. I need to _feel_ it. I need to feel loved. And wanted." Her head dropped again, her shoulders sagged. In a small voice she said, "I told you it was stupid."

"Anna, _it_ is not stupid, and _you_ are not stupid. You're in pain, and it's making you doubt yourself. But you will always be my Anna, the sun that lights my day and warms my heart. I love you. I always will. What can I do to make you feel better?"

"Could you hold me?"

"Of course." Elsa moved from the chair to the divan and hugged Anna warmly, pressing her cheek against Anna's soft hair and stroking her back.

Anna murmured, "Could you kiss me?"

Elsa gave her a warm, sisterly kiss, then hugged her again.

"Could you…kiss me like you mean it?"

Elsa pulled back, her body stiffening. In a carefully controlled voice she said, "Anna. Do you know what you're asking?"

Anna turned away. "You're right. You're right. It's stupid and selfish and…and stupid."

"Anna!"

She continued to talk to the wall. "It's just, I always hung out with the girl servants, and they always said the best thing to do if a guy breaks your heart is to spend some time with another guy who thinks you're…you know. But I could never do that. After Hans and Kristoff, I don't think I could trust a guy again. And I'd have to be with someone I trust. Trust completely. And who do I know who I trust completely, and isn't a guy, and thinks I'm pretty?" She shrugged.

Elsa reached out to stroke her back. "I understand."

"And it wouldn't be fair to you. Teasing you like that."

"Oh, Anna." Elsa continued stroking.

"And I'd probably freak out and make you stop halfway through, which would be super-unfair."

Elsa said nothing, still soothing Anna with her touch.

"And you have Ingrid now. I just…I feel so…" Elsa could feel Anna spasm as she began sobbing again.

"Anna? Look at me." Elsa didn't know what she was going to do, until she looked into Anna's tear-filled eyes. _She's my Anna. I owe her everything._ Elsa nodded, then leaned in to kiss Anna, pressing her against the back of the divan.

Anna acquiesced, then squirmed away. "Elsa. We have to, I don't know, I mean that's what I was asking you to do, but…"

Elsa took Anna's hand in hers and stroked it. "It's all right, Anna. It's all right. I'll stop any time you want me to. I'll only go as far as you want. If you want to wait, or stop, it's all right."

"Are you sure?"

"It's just you and me, here, tonight. It doesn't have to go any farther than you want, now or ever. I'm here for you, Anna. I love you."

"But what about…?" Anna shrugged in the general direction of Elsa's rooms, where Ingrid was waiting.

"Anna, it's all right." _She'll understand. She has to._ "It's all right."

"But — "

Elsa put a finger to Anna's lips. "It's all right. It's just you and me. And I love you."

"And I love you too, really I do. But what if I get you all worked up, then I panic and make you stop?"

"I won't be sad for what I've lost. I'll be grateful for what I had."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Elsa leaned in and kissed Anna again. Softly, lingeringly, insistent. Her lips caressed Anna's, parting just a little, her patient tongue peeking out timidly to meet Anna's mouth.

"Thish ish sho weird," Anna said into Elsa's mouth.

Elsa pulled back, searching Anna's face for her reaction.

Anna smiled weakly, awkwardly, fondly. "But it's a good weird. Different. Interesting."

"You want to keep going?"

She nodded, and Elsa kissed her again. Elsa's tongue slid slowly between Anna's unresisting lips and explored her mouth. Anna tensed for an instant, then relaxed. After a moment, her tongue met Elsa's. She felt the vibration as Elsa moaned.

Elsa kissed her over and over, then pulled back. "How does that feel? All right?"

"Um, yeah. Nice. Soft. You're very soft. It's nice. Different."

Elsa looked at her, eyebrows raised hopefully. Anna nodded. "Remember. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Elsa kissed her again. This time, her exploration moved beyond Anna's mouth to her cheeks, her neck, the sensitive hollow behind Anna's ear. Anna hummed with pleasure, and Elsa's tongue delicately probed her ear. Anna made a small yelp of surprise. Elsa paused, but Anna didn't object or pull away, so she continued. Anna squirmed and murmured, "Wow, that's, uh, wow." Elsa paused again, and Anna said, "It's okay. It's just, wow, I didn't know I liked that." Elsa waited. "You can go ahead and do that some more."

Elsa did.

After making Anna wriggle a little longer, Elsa continued her exploration. She kissed Anna's neck, pushing her dressing gown off her shoulders. Anna undid her sash and shrugged off the gown, leaving herself naked to the waist. Elsa sat back as Anna held her hands over her own breasts. Then, with a bashful smile, Anna lowered her hands.

Elsa gave a breathy moan. "Oh, Anna, you're beautiful. You're lovely. You are…perfection."

"I am not." Anna fought the urge to cover herself up again. "You really think so?"

"I do." Elsa smiled serenely, lovingly, hungrily, at Anna's naked beauty. Her lips began to pout, eager to taste Anna's warm, freckled skin.

"Do you want to get, um…?" Anna gestured at her own nudity.

"If you like."

With a tight, uncertain smile, Anna nodded. Elsa stood and undressed. Anna's dressing gown fell away as she stood to help her. Elsa stood before her, one arm crossing below her breasts, the other just above her cleft, as if she were just about to cover herself. But only as if. "Do you… Is this all right?" asked Elsa.

"Wow," said Anna, half-whispering.

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Are you kidding? You're frickin' gorgeous. You're like…" She gestured at Elsa's smooth curves and creamy skin, her effortless grace. "Look at you!"

Elsa looked down, then lifted her eyes to Anna's. She dropped her arms to her sides. "Would you like to…touch…? If you'd like to?"

Elsa arched her back slightly as Anna tentatively reached for her breast.

Before Anna could reach her she stepped back, her hands up, palms towards Elsa. "This is so weird. You're my sister. You're a woman. And I…this is so weird!"

Elsa smiled a wan smile, then reached for her clothes. "I understand."

"No, you don't. And you don't have to get dressed. It's just… It's like, have you ever been up late, trying to stay awake? And you start to drift off without noticing, then you catch yourself and wake up with a jolt? Then you do it again? It's like that." Elsa's head tilted as she listened. "We're doing stuff, and it feels nice, and I start to feel, you know, good, and then I go, 'Hey, that's Elsa!' And it's not bad, really, it's just…startling."

"Then let it drift. If you want. Let tonight be a dream. Nothing outside this room is real. You're not Princess Anna and I'm not Queen Elsa. You're you, and I'm me. And I love you. And magic can happen in dreams."

"Would it be okay if we got into bed and didn't do anything? Just be next to me, and hold me?"

"Of course." Elsa took Anna's hand and they went into her bedroom, slipping under the covers, cuddling skin to skin.

Anna closed her eyes. "Elsa?"

"Yes?"

"What made you start feeling that way about me?"

"I don't know what _made_ me, but I can tell you when I first really knew."

"Okay."

"It was when… You're okay, Anna, right?"

"Right as rain."

"It was… It was that day on the fjord. _That_ day."

"Oh." Anna took a deep breath, let it go. "Go ahead."

"You had… I don't know how much you remember. You had…"

"Go ahead. I'm okay."

"You had turned to ice. And it was the lowest point in my life. Ever. And I was holding on to you, and crying. You were so hard, and cold. And I had done that to you. I was so sorry." Elsa sniffled. "I _am_ so sorry."

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, sweetie. I'm right here, see? I'm okay."

Elsa's voice grew stronger. "And then… And then you came to life in my arms. I could feel you growing warm, and soft, and alive. You were always the most alive person I've ever known. And I could feel it happen. I felt you come back. It had been years since I'd held anyone, and there you were in my arms, warm and soft, and it felt so good. I wanted to never let you go. It felt like…"

Anna was watching Elsa's face. "Like love?"

"Yes. And more. It felt like forgiveness."

"Elsa? I forgive you, of course I forgive you. I never ever blamed you in the first place."

"More. It felt like… It felt like the universe could forgive me. The fates, the gods, whatever made me this way. It felt like maybe everything could be okay again. That I could get at least some of my happiness back. That I could have hope. And love. And I was holding on to you, and I was overwhelmed with love. I loved you every way you could love a person. Every way."

"Including…?" Anna bumped her hip against Elsa's, smiling crookedly.

Elsa smiled back. "Yes, including…bump." On the word, she bumped Anna back.

"Elsa, I…I don't have the words. I love you so much, and I'm so glad you're here."

"I love you, Anna. More than words can say."

Anna lay back on the pillow. "Elsa?"

"Yes?"

"Do you still want to…?"

Quietly, Elsa said, "Yes. Very much."

"I mean, you're not just saying that because you're looking out for me and I'm still not quite over the whole Kristoff thing?"

"Oh, Anna." She sighed, smiling fondly. "You're very beautiful, and very sexy. I very much want to make love to you, and I'm not just saying that because you're my sister."

Anna barked a laugh. "Well, _there's_ a sentence you don't hear everyday."

Elsa chuckled, then raised herself, looking down at Anna's face. "If you still want me to?"

Anna nodded. "I want you to."

She kissed her.


	21. Comfort And Joy

Elsa slid to lie on top of Anna, kissing her lips over and over, gently nipping Anna's lower lip, then feeling an electric thrill of acceptance as Anna's unresisting lips parted for her tongue. She lingered for a while, then her restless mouth moved down the side of Anna's neck. As she nuzzled the hollow where neck met shoulder, Anna said, "Oh, this feels _nice_."

"Yes?" murmured Elsa, careful not to be too loud next to Anna's ear.

"The weight of you. On top of me. It's like a massage, but different. It's making all my muscles relax." _I could never do this with Kristoff, he was too heavy. _She drove the thought from her mind.

Elsa raised up on her elbows and looked down at Anna's bosom. "There's at least two parts of you that aren't relaxed at all."

"Elsa!" Anna felt heat radiating from her face, even her ears. As Elsa stroked her cheeks against the soft, speckled skin of her bosom, Anna said, "You know, you're different from last time." The warmth vanished from her face as she realized what she'd said, what memories she'd brought up.

But Elsa's eyes were untroubled as she looked up and asked, "What do you mean?"

"It's okay?" asked Anna, and Elsa nodded. "Well, you were so dramatic. Not in a bad way, although it was a little worrying. But you were all 'I'll give you the moon and conquer nations and stuff for you,' and now you're more, I don't know, settled. It's a good different." _Or does it mean you don't feel that way any more?_

"It's all true. It's all still true. I'd do anything for you. I love you so much, and I want you so much. But that night, as much as I was talking about you, it was really for me. I was caught up in myself." Elsa shook her head at her foolishness. "Tonight… Tonight is about you." She gently kissed Anna's collarbone, then explored Anna's dappled skin with her lips and tongue-tip. "I wish I was one of your freckles, so I could be next to your skin always."

"Now that's the goofy romantic I remember." Anna's head dropped back against the pillow again.

Elsa took one of Anna's erect nipples in her mouth; sucking, nipping, nibbling, cautiously raking her teeth across it.

"Hey!" Anna's head popped up again.

In an instant Elsa was clear of Anna, sitting up on her heels, her hands up, palms towards Anna. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Too far? Too much? I'm _so_ sorry."

"No, it's okay," said Anna, sitting up as well. "It's just…it's…not like that." Reading the confusion on Elsa's face, she said, "Let me show you," and bent down to take one of Elsa's nipples in her mouth. She sucked and licked, cupping the breast with one hand as she supported herself with the other. "Like thish, shee?" she said, talking with her mouth full. She nipped once, but with her lips covering her teeth, and continued softly suckling at Elsa's breast. "Gently. Not so rough. Now what you were doing was _this_." She moved her mouth to the other breast and did her best to copy Elsa's actions, playing with the nipple between her teeth, stimulating it carefully but sharply. After a minute of this she said, "Now who would enjoy that?" and looked up at Elsa.

Elsa's eyes were nearly closed, her head swaying from side to side, a gentle moan leaking from her slack, parted lips.

"Oh. I did _not_ mean to do that," said Anna.

"No, 'sokay." Elsa made a sound between a moan and a sigh. "No 'pologies necess'ry. Any time."

"Well, I guess now we know who would enjoy that." Anna giggled, then paused for thought. "Wow. I just did that. I totally just…did…the thing."

"Was it okay? Are you okay?"

"Sure."

"Was it… Did you… Was there anything you liked about it?"

"It was pretty awesome seeing you so, um, happy. I guess you'd call it."

Elsa smiled dreamily. "Very happy." She pushed her hair back. "Do you want to… I mean, on purpose this time?"

Anna paused. "Sure." Her mouth returned to Elsa's breast, one hand supporting Elsa's back, the other leaning on the bed. She glanced up and watched the ecstasy on Elsa's face, starting to share her pleasure. Finally she said, "You know, I've never had that. I mean it feels good, really nice, when it happens to me, but not like that. What's it like?"

Elsa gazed into her eyes as she stroked Anna's gold-and-auburn hair. "It's like…lute strings that run from here," she touched her nipples, "to here," her fingertips traced converging lines that met at her cleft, "to here," and the lines continued along her inner thighs to her knees. "And when you pluck the strings it goes 'zing' all the way down."

"Wow. Well, for me it's nice being kissed there, but it's nearly as nice being kissed anywhere else."

"Good." Elsa smiled wickedly. "Because I want to kiss you everywhere else. Every inch of you." She leaned forward, Anna fell backwards, and Elsa's mouth continued its exploration, across Anna's sometimes-quivering stomach, and ever downwards.

Anna relaxed and sighed, concentrating on the soft sensation of her sister's kisses, then tensed as Elsa approached the triangle of fur. "Hey."

Elsa lifted her head. "Sorry. Am I doing something wrong?"

"Uh, no. But you're getting kind of close to, um…down there?"

"Is that too much? Too far?"

"Well… Are you sure you want to do that?"

Elsa exhaled heavily through her nose. "I was hoping… Well, I had been hoping I could."

"But you were still kissing."

Elsa rested her head on Anna's thigh. "I said I wanted to kiss every inch of you. I do."

"But you'd have to look at it."

"I want to look at it. At you. Look and smell and touch and taste."

Anna's brow furrowed. "But isn't it sort of…icky?"

"Oh, Anna." Elsa sat up and smiled softly at her. "Don't you know that you're beautiful? Every part of you is beautiful?"

"Well, yeah, kind of. In general terms. If I'm cleaned up and I keep my legs together. But…there? Aren't women…I mean, isn't that why we cover it up? Because we aren't nice down there?"

"We are beautiful there. We are beautiful everywhere. And you are very beautiful there." With an inquiring look Elsa asked for permission to continue. Anna nodded, and parted her legs slightly.

As Elsa's mouth found the moistness between those thighs, Anna tried to relax and enjoy the sensation. And it was a wonderful sensation. She felt a craving build in her stomach and start to spread through her body. Then she glanced at Elsa. "Seriously. I look okay down there? Not weird? A little…lopsided?"

"You are lovely. Like a delicate pink orchid."

"Really?"

Elsa nodded reassuringly, and bent her head again.

Anna closed her eyes, and concentrated on the exquisite energy building inside her. Her hips began to gently rock. With a start, she pulled herself away from Elsa. "Are you really sure you want to do this? I mean, I could wash up first, maybe?"

Elsa looked up at her. "Please, no, Anna. I love the smell of you. I love the taste of you. I could live on nothing but your cream for the rest of my life. I'll stop if this is making you self-conscious or uncomfortable, but please believe me that there is nowhere I'd rather be than here, no one I'd rather be with than you, and _nothing_ I'd rather be doing than this. Please."

Mixed up between awkwardness, physical desire, and love of Elsa, she slid down and closed her eyes again. She felt Elsa's tongue go eagerly where her own fingers would only stray in absolute privacy. The intimacy was strange and exciting, but also unnerving. "Elsa? Are you sure this is okay? You don't have to do this if it's just for me."

Elsa looked up at her again, her eyes a mixture of begging and frustration. "Anna. I said I'd go as far as you want, and stop anytime, and go as slow as you like, but for God's sake please don't tantalize me like this! It's making me _crazy_. Tell me to go, tell me to stop, but don't tease me like this anymore. Please! Let me go or kick me out, but put me out of my misery. I crave you so much right now that I want to pin you to the mattress and ravish you!"

Softly, Anna said, "…um, okay."

Elsa paused, blinked. "Okay to what?"

"…okay to…pinning…and ravishing…?"

That was what Anna hadn't realized she'd wanted. Not to be desired but to be craved. Hungered for. To ignite passion.

Elsa made a growling hum deep in her throat, pushed Anna flat against the bed, and pried her thighs apart.

* * *

Later that night they slept, Anna curled up, Elsa's arms around her. Anna jolted. "He had 'n arrow through his throat," she moaned from inside her dream. "I saw it. I saw 'im die."

Without waking Elsa pulled her closer and said, "Was an icicle. Wasn' an arrow, an icicle. 'N he was bluffing. Never let 'im hurt you. Never let 'im hurt her. 'Sokay. 'Sokay."

"Never?"

"Never ever. Love you, mouse."

Anna snuggled closer, Elsa wrapped around her tightly, and they sank deeper into peaceful sleep.


	22. Snow Globe

_Elsa was sitting at her desk, in a room that was both her study and Anna's bedroom. She was shuffling through the papers that covered the desktop, searching for something, she couldn't remember what. She looked up at Anna who was sitting up in bed, naked, reading a novel. Anna moved to put the book aside as she smiled invitingly at Elsa._

_Elsa shook her head. _I have to finish up here first. When I've…_ She still couldn't remember. _I'll join you when I'm done._ Anna nodded, satisfied, and went back to reading. Elsa sorted through the papers. It wasn't pressing, whatever it was, but it had to be taken care of. She wasn't worried. She knew she'd recognize it when she found it. She opened and closed the drawers to her desk, taking her time. No luck. Ah well. She started over with the papers._

_tap tap tap_

_Anna didn't notice the sound, or react when Elsa stood up to search for it._

_tap tap tap_

_The walls of the room were lined with bookshelves. There was no door. There had never been one. Elsa walked to the bookshelf in front of her and lightly ran her hand over the spines, feeling for vibration._

_tap tap tap_

_She picked up books at random, listening, opening. _I suppose I should keep track of which ones I've checked_, she thought, but carried on the same._

_tap tap tap_

_She was getting closer. She pulled a thick grey volume from the shelf. When she opened it, it wasn't a book. It was a box. The front cover was the lid._

_tap tap tap_

_There was a small black mouse inside the box, tapping at a picture of a door on the inside of the back cover, or the bottom of the box, depending on your perspective. It looked up at her with shining eyes and tapped on the picture again. Elsa shook her head fondly. _No, silly. That's not a real door. You have to knock on the real door. It's over there._ She pointed to the side. A door was there. It had always been there. _Go on. Go to the door. It's over there._ The mouse continued tapping. _No, the door. Over there. The door. Get to the door. Go on. The door. It's right there. The door. _The mouse shook its tiny head._

_tap tap tap_

* * *

_tap tap tap_

Elsa struggled to wake up. She heard the tapping again, coming from the door to Anna's bedroom. _It **is** real,_ she realized. _I'd better get it before Anna wakes up. _

She slid out from under Anna's arm and lowered her feet gently to the floor. Her feet were as naked as the rest of her. Anna murmured and rolled over. Elsa slipped into Anna's robe and padded quietly to the door, carefully feeling her way in the dark. She knew who it was, who it had to be, but her still-groggy brain refused to process it until it had to.

She opened the door, and her stomach was filled with lead.

Ingrid glowed warmly in the light of the single candle she carried, a dot of flame reflected in each of her dark eyes. Her face was a chiaroscuro portrait of hope and concern, luminous against the shadows. "Elsa? Your Majesty?"

Elsa's face shone like moonlight, pale and cold and lifeless. "Oh God," she whispered. "Oh, Ingrid. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. We have to talk."

Ingrid guided her out of the bedroom and silently closed the door behind them. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. Not like this."

"I know," said Elsa as they sat on the divan and Ingrid set her candle on a low table. Soft snowflakes appeared, suspended in the air, slowly orbiting them. "I'm so sorry. I'm a terrible person."

"I didn't want it to be this way." Ingrid's eyes searched Elsa's face as Elsa turned away.

"I'm so sorry, Ingrid. I — I don't know what to say. I feel horrible. That's no consolation, but I do feel horrible." The snowflakes grew thicker, still revolving.

"No," whispered Ingrid as loud as she dared. "I spoiled everything. I ruined everything."

Elsa faced her again. "You what? No, you don't understand. I was the one — Ingrid, I have to talk to you."

"No." Ingrid shook her head, eyes closed.

"I'm sorry, Ingrid, but I have to say this." They were held in a candlelit bubble of snow that trapped light and sound, alone in an isolated universe. "Last night, Anna was… I'm sorry. I'm an awful, stupid, thoughtless person, but I have to tell you. You have to know. We… I made love to her. Anna. Last night."

"I know that!" Ingrid's pained whisper was like a blast of wind hissing under the door. "Of course I know that! I ruined it. It's all wrong."

"Ingrid, stop! What are you on about? _I_ was the one who was wrong. _I_ was the one who ruined everything."

Ingrid took her hands, gripping them tightly. Her frantic eyes bored into Elsa's. "This was your dream. Making love to Anna, it's what you wanted more than anything. It was supposed to be beautiful. It was supposed to be the most wonderful day of your life. It was meant to be a dream come true. I wanted this for you _so much._ And because of _me_, because of the feelings you have for me, you're in pain and you hate yourself. It's… It's wrong. It's all wrong." Ingrid shook her head as she stared into her lap. "I didn't mean for it to be like this at all."

"I don't — Ingrid, did you plan…this? Did you know this was going to happen? Is that why you told me to forget you and go…console…my sister?"

"No. I always hoped it would happen for you someday. I didn't suspect it would be now. I would've… I don't know what. Something. To make it right. To make it all right for you."

The lead in Elsa's stomach churned into a mix of guilt and doubt. "Ingrid. After everything. After the other night, the night we had together. All this time. You would've preferred that I was with Anna? Not with you?"

Ingrid blinked, swallowed, her hands folded in her lap. "I would've preferred…that you be happy."

"I _was_ happy. I am happy, with you. Not that I'm behaving that way, but…" Elsa reached out to stroke her arm, then pulled back. "Oh God, I'm sorry, Ingrid. I said I love you. I do. I still love you. Can you believe me?"

Ingrid nodded. "I love you. And I want you to be happy."

"With Anna."

"With the one you love most."

"I — " Elsa was tired, still addled from sleep. But she suspected she'd be just as confused if she were wide awake. She loved Anna, she had always loved Anna, deeply, for all her life. She loved Ingrid with a love that had quietly insinuated itself until it was a part of her. A love that she could forget in an instant when it was convenient. "I don't know."

"It's all right." Ingrid took her hand.

"It's not 'all right.' What I did was wrong. So wrong, in so many ways."

"You love and care for her. How can that be wrong?"

"I forgot about you. I forgot you completely."

"I asked you to. I wanted you to forget about me and comfort her."

"You do know I was unfaithful."

"I know that I have no claim on you."

"Ingrid, I cheated on you."

"To 'cheat' is to break the rules. I'm your servant, she's your sister, you love us both, and we both love you. Are there rules for that? Can there be?"

Elsa jerked her hands back. "We shared a night of amazing passion, you and I, the latest of many. I swore from the depths of my heart that I loved you. And the _instant_ we're back in Arendelle I abandon you and lie with my sister. How can you even look at me?"

"Please don't be hard on yourself. You didn't hurt me, there's no need to hurt yourself."

"Are you trying to be a martyr? Earning points for how much of my shit you put up with? Making me feel guilty?"

Ingrid's eyes darted back and forth. "But…but you're not guilty! You mustn't feel guilty!"

"Dammit, Ingrid, _get mad at me!_"

"**NO!"**

The snow that enclosed them swallowed the sound of Ingrid's voice, leaving a long, perfect silence as thick as a comforter. Elsa, her face blank with surprise, stared at her servant as Ingrid looked back at her with eyes wide.

"Please, no," whimpered Ingrid. "I can't… I'm weak. I'm not strong, like you. Like normal people. If I were angry at you, if I hated… I couldn't stand it."

Elsa leaned forward, nearly took her hand. Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean by 'normal people'?"

Ingrid's left hand grasped the fingers of her right. She gazed at them, looking for clarity. Looking for courage. "I've told you about Anders." Elsa nodded, hands folded in her own lap. her eyes on Ingrid. "I've suspected… I think I'm broken, too. You think I'm being a martyr because I'm not jealous. You think I'm hurt, and not showing it. I'm just…odd. The thing inside people that makes them jealous and greedy, that gives them drive and ambition and pushes them to greatness; I don't have that."

Elsa was pulled out of her own self-pity. "There's more to you than that. I know it. I've seen it." She stroked Ingrid's hair and cupped her cheek. Remembering this timid girl's devotion as she blossomed into a friend and lover wrenched Elsa's heart. "So much more."

Ingrid pressed Elsa's hand to her cheek, then released it. "I beg your patience. I'll try to explain." She sat a little straighter. "Once upon a time, a man came upon three stonecutters in a marble quarry. He asked each one what they were doing. The first one, tired and resentful, said, 'I'm cutting stone.' The second, grim and determined, said, 'I'm supporting my family.' The third one was proud and happy. He said, 'I'm building a cathedral.' You see, that's why serving you makes me happy." She blinked, licked her lips. "You're my cathedral."

Elsa sighed deeply. "Oh, Ingrid. I love you. And I love Anna. What am I going to do?"

"Follow your heart."

Elsa's smile twisted to the side. "Yes, but follow it where?"

Ingrid gently touched Elsa's knee. "Anywhere it may lead." Elsa looked at her sadly, her eyes pleading for guidance. "We never know where. That's why we have to follow."

"So that's your advice?"

"What? No. I wouldn't dream of advising you. I wouldn't know what to say. That's what I believe you're going to do. Because of who you are."

Elsa's smile was weak, but real. "Well. I guess I'd better tidy up and go to bed." The bubble of snow expanded, thinned, vanished.

"If I may suggest," said Ingrid, "you could wake Her Highness gently and tell her you're going. That way she wouldn't feel abandoned on waking and finding you gone. And while you're talking I can change the sheets on the bed. I…imagine that's necessary?" Elsa nodded, and slipped into Anna's bedroom.

As Elsa drew Anna aside, snuggling and murmuring endearments, Ingrid stripped the mattress. I won't be sharing Elsa's bed. Anna would be upset. She would tuck Elsa in, then sleep on the daybed, ready to serve her queen when the dawn came.

And she would cry, of course. But quietly, and not until Elsa was asleep.


	23. TO HER HEART'S CONTENT: A New Day

TO HER HEART'S CONTENT: Part III of HER HEART

Chapter 1: A New Day

Elsa stood behind her chair at the breakfast table in The Studio. The north light gave everything a warm glow. She leaned on the chair-back, her fingers tracing and retracing the patterns carved there, trying and failing to stop herself pivoting back and forth. Her nervousness had spread to Nils and Helga, waiting to serve.

"I'm sure Anna will be here any minute, Your Majesty," said Nils.

"I'm sure she's fine," added Helga.

But that wasn't what had Elsa fidgeting. From the moment she awoke that morning, she had been unsettled, worrying about where she stood with Anna and with Ingrid.

Ingrid, thank God, had been her sweet, supportive self that morning, helping Elsa to choose an outfit and dress. Ingrid had pushed – gently, of course – for something soft and form-fitting, but Elsa had chosen a purple dress with a heavy bodice. Until she knew where she stood with Anna, Elsa didn't want her bosom telegraphing her feelings.

Was Anna having second thoughts? Regrets? By the light of day, would she be ashamed of what they had done? Feeling dirty, or angry, or guilty? Would she want to talk it out, or forget it never happened?

The dress had been an awkward choice. Elsa's skin was only relatively cool. Anxious as she was, she was more than able to make herself uncomfortably warm. She brushed a cool breeze against herself, hoping it wasn't too obvious.

Outside the door, Anna reached for the door-handle. Then stopped. She dried her palms on her skirt, the one Elsa had conjured for her birthday a couple of years previous. She turned away, and leaned her back against the wall. Forcing a smile on her face, she turned back to the door.

Finally the door opened, and Anna walked gingerly into the room. Elsa lunged towards her, stopped herself, then hurried into Anna's arms. As they hugged, Anna whispered into her ear, "You still love me, right?"

"What?" Elsa stepped back, holding Anna at arm's length. "How can you ask that? Of course I love you. I love you more than ever." She hugged Anna again, even more firmly, as Anna hugged her back.

"It's just, after last night…" Anna whispered in Elsa's ear.

"What is it?" Elsa murmured back.

There was so much she wanted to say, to ask, thoughts tumbling through her brain. But even if she could put them into words, she couldn't say them in front of Nils and Helga. She was even afraid to ask them to leave, for fear of making them suspicious. But poor Elsa, still in her arms, eyes filled with worry.

Under cover of hugging Elsa again, she whispered, "I don't have a great track record with falling in love with people."

Elsa whispered back, "Records are made to be broken. I love you, and I'd never hurt you. You're my Anna."

"Thanks. I love you too." Anna leaned back to see Elsa's smile, fighting the impulse to kiss her lips. She did, however, give Elsa's buttocks a surreptitious squeeze before stepping away and taking her seat for breakfast.

_Flirting? With me?_ Elsa tried to glare at the brat, but she couldn't help grinning. Anna put on a face of ostentatious innocence, daring Elsa to call her on it.

As Elsa salted and peppered her eggs, Anna sat up straight and announced, "Could I have the pickled herring, please."

Elsa raised an eyebrow, wondering what her game was. "Really? You never liked pickled herring."

"Well, I've been thinking about it. People's tastes change over time. I was sure it was disgusting, or I thought it was, so I never gave it a chance. Maybe there are things that aren't as bad as I thought. That are _good_. That I'd like – like a lot – if I just tried them. If I opened up and gave 'em a chance. Things _you_ like." She struggled to maintain her mature demeanour as she opened the jar and looked at the limp pieces of fish. She looked up, expecting a smirk or another skeptical eyebrow, but Elsa was turned slightly away, fidgeting with her napkin.

Anna stabbed the smallest piece she could see on her fork and put it on a quarter-slice of rye bread. She nibbled at the corner of the bread, her teeth barely grazing the morsel of fish. _Oh, w__hat the hell._ She popped it into her mouth and chewed.

With a supreme effort she forced herself to smile, even as she shuddered, eyes squinting. She gave Elsa a weak thumbs-up. "Mmm," she lied. She chewed for as long as she could manage, then swallowed hard.

Elsa didn't know whether to laugh or sympathize. "That bad?"

"Augh!" Anna wiped her tongue on her napkin, trying to erase the taste. "How can people put that in their mouth? On purpose? Eww." She halted, wadded up her napkin. "No offense. Sorry."

Elsa shook her head fondly. "It's all right."

"I guess I'm just not as sophisticated as you."

"Baby steps, Anna. Not that you're a baby. Just…one step at a time." She turned to Nils and Helga. "Could we have broccoli with dinner tonight? Steamed lightly. And only if it's _very_ fresh." In response to Anna's uncertain expression, she said, with a touch of huskiness in her voice, "It's all right. We don't have to go any faster than you're comfortable." She turned back to the servants, and quietly added, "And some cheese sauce. Just in case."

Anna nodded her appreciation, then looked at Elsa crookedly. "And citronfromage for dessert. If that's all right with you."

Elsa nodded, and they continued their meal.

"So, anything you're thinking of doing, Anna? Anywhere you'd like to go?"

Anna locked eyes and smiled sweetly. "Well, actually I've been thinking about the North Mountain. I just feel like exploring those peaks, admiring their pale beauty. Flawless. Something about reaching the tips just gives me tingles, you know?" Anna's smile verged on becoming a leer.

Elsa fiddled with refilling her teacup, noisily stirring honey into it. "Are you s-sure you want to do that?"

"Of course, it's something we'd have to do…together." Anna's calm gaze and sensuous smile made Elsa even warmer than her heavy dress.

"I, um… I'd like that. Let's make plans for that _later_."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Anna forced herself not to wriggle with happiness as she focused on her breakfast. _I'm doing this. Why am I doing this? I must be crazy._ She knew she had to keep her secret – Elsa's secret – well, secret. She knew she had to avoid raising suspicion. But this new thing she had with Elsa, it was so wonderful and strange and scary and weird and exciting and confusing and dirty – but a good kind of dirty – and _new_, that she wanted to tell everyone. She wanted to celebrate it, and talk about it, and try to understand it. And while she'd always been flattered, even a little overwhelmed, with how much Elsa wanted her, this morning the temptation to make her flustered was too much to resist. _I'll be good. At least 'til I get her alone._ She grinned up at Elsa, the only one who shared their secret. Elsa smiled timidly back and blushed a little, pleased and scared. "Like you said, Elsa, that's for later. Today let's just have an ordinary day in the castle. Just you and me."

"Just –" Elsa cleared her throat, sipped her tea. "Just you and me."

* * *

Anna linked arms with Elsa as they left The Studio. "Elsa, I really have to – _whoa!_" She jerked herself and Elsa to a halt, almost colliding with Ingrid, who curtseyed to them and wished them good morning. They headed down the hallway, Anna on Elsa's left arm, Ingrid following on Elsa's right, carrying a stack of paper and a pencil.

"What was it you were saying?" asked Elsa

"Well, I wanted to…I was going to say…I was hoping the two of us, _just_ the two of us…" Anna leaned in to whisper. "Um, does she have to be here?"

"She knows, Anna."

Ingrid sped up enough to speak to Anna across Elsa's front. "Congratulations, Your Highness. I hope everything went well."

"I, um, yes. Yes. It was…satisfactory?"

"It's none of my concern, of course, but I do wish you well."

Anna goggled at Elsa, who nodded at Ingrid and gave Anna the sort of fond but embarrassed _Oh, her!_ expression she usually gave to other people about Anna.

Anna shrugged, and said, "So, now?"

"Ingrid?" said Elsa.

"Yes, ma'am. The councillors are waiting in your outer study. There were copies of the agenda in your rooms, both your rooms, and I have spares if you need them. Lunch follows, then a brief 'welcome home' reception with the local merchants and the visiting Silesian delegation. I've made sure the rest of the afternoon is free until dinner. For both of you."

"Thank you, Ingrid."

"My pleasure, ma'am."

_So at least Elsa and I can talk this afternoon. _"Um, yeah. Thanks, Ingrid."

"My pleasure, Your Highness."

"Elsa, is she going to be following you around all the time?"

"Well, a lot of the time. I just made her my amanuensis…"

Anna sighed. "That's Greek for 'assistant.' I know."

"Well, you were always better at Romance languages, Anna," said Elsa with a hint of a raised eyebrow. Ignoring Anna's playful glare, she continued. "I couldn't very well take her off the job after one day. People would talk."

They went quiet as the phrase _people would talk_ echoed in all of their minds until they reached the door of Elsa's outer study.

Elsa turned to Anna as she was about to reach for the door handle. "One last thing. Why did you specify citronfromage for dessert?"

"Well..." She glanced at Ingrid for a moment, then whispered in Elsa's ear. "Last night you did say 'tart and creamy' was one of your favourite flavours." She opened the door and shoved Elsa into the room.


	24. Three-Quarter Time

After the reception Anna was in her rooms, changing into something less formal. There was a gentle knock at the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Ingrid, Your Highness. I have— "

"Come on in." Anna was wearing a light dress, very pale green, with a pattern of sunflowers along the edges. It was a softer, lighter version of what she had worn that morning. She hoped Elsa would like it. Ingrid entered and curtseyed. "I'm glad you're here, Ingrid. Would you lace me up in back, please?"

"Of course, ma'am." As Anna pulled her unbound hair forward and out of the way, Ingrid's soft fingers tightened and tied the silk ribbon.

Anna twisted back and forth, checking the fit, then turned to face Ingrid. "Thanks, that's great. And please, call me Anna?"

"As you wish, Your – Prin – As you wish, Anna." Ingrid smiled nervously.

"Thanks. Now what brings you here?"

Ingrid paused. "A message from…your sister. She'll meet you in the East Dining Room, if you wish, at your convenience."

"Great. I'm just about finished. But first, I'd like to talk to you for a minute." Anna sat on one side of the divan and patted the other. Ingrid sat at the far end and folded her hands in her lap. "Huh." Ingrid gave her a puzzled look. Anna shook her head. "It's nothing. Just when you were sitting down, you reminded me of Elsa for a second. The way you moved."

"I learned how to sit properly from her. I try to learn everything I can from her."

Anna scootched sideways in her seat to face Ingrid. "Wow, you're really, um…she's… Well. I'm glad you're here, and not just to lace me up. I wanted to talk to you about something. About this morning. When I was talking to Elsa, and you were there. About you. I mean when I was talking about you, for a second. Do you…know what I mean?" Ingrid nodded. "Well, the thing is, Ingrid… Ing? Ingy? What do people call you for short?"

Ingrid thought. "I don't know."

"Anyway, you know about what happened last night. With Elsa and me." Ingrid nodded again, her face blank. "It's kind of a big deal. And— "

"_I don't want to leave the castle._"

Anna stopped short, startled at being interrupted. She looked sideways at the maid-that-was, confused, concerned, but also a tiny bit pleased that Ingrid was standing up for herself. "Ingrid, what are you talking about?"

"I want to stay in the castle. If I have to be a chambermaid again, or work in the kitchens or the laundry, I will. But I want to keep serving my queen. _Please_." Ingrid shrank back. "If it please Your Highness."

"Will you for heaven's sake calm down?" She winced as she saw the stricken expression on Ingrid's face. "No, I didn't mean it like that. Oh hell, this is not how this was supposed to go. Nobody's sending anyone anywhere. I'm trying to _apologize_, okay?" She sighed, shook her head. "Look, I just want you to understand. I've been through a lot lately. Some good, some horrible, some amazing. And I'm still mixed up over it all. And this morning, well, I wanted to talk to Elsa about it. And because, you know, you and her, and you were there…it felt weird. Awkward. Nothing against you. It's just… I really needed to talk to someone about all this shi— Stuff. This stuff. And the only person I can talk to about this stuff is Elsa."

Ingrid nodded, looked at her lap. She cleared her throat, and said, "…or me?"

"What?" Ingrid had been so quiet that Anna wasn't quite sure what she'd said.

"Um, or me? If you like? Possibly. That is, I'm sure E-Elsa could give you much better advice and understanding, and she's very wise, and you're very close. But if it's a matter of someone who knows about your…business, and would never tell, I could… I could listen. If you like. And I would never tell."

"I guess I have your word, huh."

"I took a vow. I'm loyal to Her Majesty, and to her heirs and successors. And you're a good person. And I'm…I try to be a good servant. And friend. To her." She swallowed. "And to you, if you like."

"And you're okay with the whole 'me and Elsa' thing? I mean, you're not mad at me or anything? You're okay with it?"

"You make her happy."

Anna fiddled with her sleeve. "God, I hope so."

"You do."

Anna saw the calm conviction in Ingrid's face, and it made her feel a little more settled. "Well. I guess I'd better find out what she's up to." Anna stood – Ingrid springing to her feet as she did so – and smoothed her dress. "Do I look okay?" Ingrid nodded. "Well, wish me luck."

"Good luck. Anna." Ingrid curtseyed as Anna left the room, then began tidying up.

Anna closed the door behind her as she entered the East Dining Room. It was modest by castle standards, only large enough to seat two dozen, except that the dining table and chairs had been moved against the side wall. All the windows along the far wall were unshuttered, but covered by sheer curtains, letting in a diffuse light that made the honey-coloured wood panelling luminous. Even more luminous was Elsa, wearing a dove-grey dress, her hair in a single braid. Her gentle smile warmed Anna.

Running to meet her, Anna stumbled to a stop in front of her sister. "Um, hi. You look…wow."

"Hi yourself. And you look 'wow' yourself."

"What, me? No, I just– "

Elsa put her finger to Anna's lips. "You're beautiful, Anna. You always are." Her finger left Anna's lips and trailed down her arm.

Flushing a little, Anna looked around. On the table beside them she spotted an inlaid wooden box, the size of a small suitcase, with a crank in its side. "What have we here?" She swung the lid back on its hinge, revealing levers and switches.

"I think you know," said Elsa.

"The music box that the Helvetican ambassador gave you for your coronation. Did you ever try it out?" said Anna as she cranked the handle.

"I had a peek inside. It's a remarkable piece of clockwork." Inside the box was a complex mechanism that could play a full-length song without repeating itself or slowing down.

"Yes, but did you ever listen to it?"

"Once. Memories."

"Well, we'd better make some new memories, then. Right?" Anna grinned up at Elsa, and set the mechanism to "Waltz", the tempo to "Medium-Slow", and flicked a lever. The air filled with a tinkling melody in three-quarter time, based on an old Arendellan folk tune. The sound was surprisingly rich for a music box. She turned to Elsa. "We have music. We have a dance floor. Any ideas?"

Elsa curtseyed. "Your Highness, would you do me the honour of this dance?"

"Your Majesty," said Anna, returning the curtsey, "I would be delighted."

There was a moment's confusion as they figured out where to put their hands. Elsa asked, "Who's going to lead?"

"You _are_ a born leader."

"Seems you were quite the leader at Baldur's Pass."

Anna gazed into her sister's eyes. "You'll always be my leader." She smiled at her flustered sister, until Elsa composed herself and began the dance.

They glided gracefully around the floor, Elsa confident, Anna instantly responsive. "I thought you said you didn't dance, Elsa."

"You didn't ask."

"What would you do if I did?"

Elsa looked past Anna. After a moment she said, "We're dancing _now_. Let's think about that."

"Oh, sorry. Of course. You're very graceful, milady."

"As are you, milady."

It was the most relaxed smile Anna had ever seen on Elsa's face. _In the daytime, anyway. _She licked her lips nervously and said, "Elsa. Can I ask you something about last night?"

A sudden chill rippled through the room, then vanished. "Of course."

"The, um, thing you did. When you kissed me…down…where I wasn't expecting to be kissed."

Elsa smirked. "I suppose we could call it 'kissing'."

_Glide, step, step. Glide, step, step. _They danced quietly for a moment. "Did you… Did you make that up yourself?"

Elsa nearly stumbled. "Did I what?"

"Did you think of that yourself? I mean, it was nice. It was very nice. Whoa, you wouldn't believe how nice it was. But, did you?"

Elsa grinned, shook her head. "No, cunnilingus has been going on for… Well, you know that book of reproductions in the library, _History of the Figure in European Art_?"

"The big blue one up on the top shelf? With the coloured plates?"

"Did you ever look at the painting of Sappho?"

"Um, naked lady reclining by a stream, with her friend's head in her lap? Sure. But what… _No!_ That's about _that?_"

"Mm-hmm."

_Glide, step, step. Glide, step, step._

"Oh," said Anna, her eyes wide. "That's why Mama was so weird."

"Really?"

"Well, I was looking at it in the library, I was about eight at the time. Mama came in and asked me what I was looking at. The girls in the painting looked so relaxed and comfortable together, and I'd been missing you a lot, so I looked up at her and said, 'I wish Elsa and me could be like that.' " Elsa laughed, and Anna did too. "I had no idea!"

"Then what happened?"

"Mama got this really weird look on her face. Not angry or anything, just…weird. Then she put the book way up on that top shelf, and took me down to the kitchens for some cookies. I thought she was trying to make me feel better be— because I missed you." Anna held Elsa closer.

"I missed you too. All the time." They stopped dancing, and held each other, music glittering in the air.

"I love you so much, Elsa. I love that I can hug you like this. And I love that, since we…since last night, things are back the way they used to be."

Anna couldn't see the apprehension in Elsa's eyes. "Wait. Back to what?"

"Well, before I knew how you felt about me, I could hug you, and tell you you're beautiful – you are beautiful, by the way. The beautifullest ever – and cuddle and stuff, and never give it a second thought. Just because I felt like it. Then…stuff happened…and first I was scared, and when I got over being scared and I was okay with it, I still was awkward about it because I didn't want to get your hopes up, or make you uncomfortable. It wouldn't be fair to make you feel… And we were back together, but it wasn't the same. And now…" She took her head off Elsa's shoulder and gazed into her eyes. "…I can cuddle you and hug you and say you're beautiful just because I feel like it, and not worry about you feeling things for me, because you feeling things for me is okay."

"Okay?"

Anna smiled at her, heavy-lidded. "It's wonderful." And she kissed Elsa, long and sweetly. "You're my girlfriend, and I'm your girlfriend, and it's wonderful."

"It is," said Elsa, and kissed her until the music stopped.

Anna pulled back to look at her. "You know what I love about you?"

Elsa smiled contentedly, her hands still on Anna's hips. "What?"

"I love— One of the things I love about you— Actually there are tons of things I love about you. So. Wanna know _one_ of the things I love about you?"

Elsa's eyes shone with fond amusement. "Of course."

"Your freckles."

"_My_ freckles?"

"Yeah. You have this soft, soft trail of freckles right across there." She traced the line of them across Elsa's face with her nose-tip. Elsa giggled. "They're so faint it's like shadows of freckles resting on your face. They're soft and grey, like pussy-willows…except not, obviously, because they're smaller, and… Am I making any sense at all?"

"Thank you, Anna. That was beautiful."

"It's just they're so cute and small and soft and adorable and cute. They're like you. They're a gentleness that most people don't notice, but I do, and it just makes me love you more." She hugged Elsa tightly. "I love you _so much._"

"I love you too, Anna. With all my heart."

"I love you too." She rested her cheek against Elsa's hair. "Thank _god_ you didn't fall in love with Ingrid."


	25. Diminuendo

Holding Elsa close, Anna couldn't see the look of desolation on her face, but she felt the chill rush through the room. She stepped back, and looked down at the snowflake pattern of frost that had shot out across the floor from where Elsa was standing. She cried "No!" as she grabbed Elsa in a bear-hug, squeezing tightly even as Elsa struggled half-heartedly. "No, it's okay, Elsa. It's okay."

"It's not okay. How could it be okay?" Defeated, Elsa stopped resisting and let her head sag against Anna's.

"It is, it is okay. I know you're blaming yourself, and you think you're a bad person, but you're not. You're a good person. I know you are."

Elsa breathed deeply, willing the tears not to come, hating how much she loved the warmth of Anna against her, the soft comfort of Anna stroking her hair.

"It's okay that you didn't love her, Elsa. I mean, I'm not saying you didn't care about her. She's obviously very special to you, and you're fond of her, and you've been through so much together. And all the bedroom stuff you did together, that's all right. You're good to her. She was happy, and she made you happy, and nobody was hurting anybody. You would never do anything to hurt anybody."

Elsa tried to push herself away. "Anna no, I – "

"Anna yes!" She stopped Elsa's mouth with a kiss. Elsa resisted for a moment, then melted into the embrace. Even as she felt the rush of love and passion flowing from Anna into her, tears trickled down her cheeks. She made a sad little moan, a downward glissando, helpless to resist her sister's love, helpless to change the past.

At last Elsa pulled away from the kiss and murmured in Anna's ear, "I'm not a good person, Anna. You don't know. And when you do, you'll never love me again."

"I don't care what you think you've done, Elsa. You loved me when I needed you to love me, and I'm gonna love you when you need me to love you, and nothing can stop me."

"You don't _know_, Anna."

"You think you were using her, but you weren't. And yeah, I kinda think she fell in love with you, and that's really sad, but still you made her happier than anything. And then you could be there for me. So all things considered, it's a good thing you didn't fall in love with her, right?"

The snowflake pattern on the floor grew more elaborate. "What if – what if – what if – what if – what if I did?" Anna let go of her. "What if I fell in love with her? What if she was there, always there for me, caring about me, never wanting anything for herself? What if I could feel peace when I was with her? What if I didn't mean to, what if slowly I opened my heart to her, and she was already inside it?" Elsa turned away, looking at the pattern on the floor, watching it spread and become more intricate. "I told you what happened in the ice house. But I didn't tell you what I felt. I held her in my arms, she was ice cold, pale as death, and I was thinking, 'Not again.' I couldn't bear to see the woman I love freeze to d-death, not again." Anna's jaw was slack, her eyes locked on Elsa. "And I told her I loved her. And I did. And I do."

Elsa turned to face her again, her eyes wild. "And I love you, too. I don't know if you believe me, but I do. And I can't. I... I don't know what to do."

"You were in love with her."

"Yes."

"When you came to me."

"Yes."

Anna was too stunned to be angry or hurt. "But…how? How could you do that?"

"_She told me to!_" Anna reached out a hand to comfort her sister, stopped herself. "She literally told me to. To forget about her, and do whatever it took to comfort you. And I saw you, feeling unloved, and you _never_ deserve that, but…" She slumped as if the thread holding her up had been cut. "I should never have done it. Not to her. Not to you." She smiled bitterly. "They were right. I am a monster. Just not the kind that everyone thought."

"Elsa, no." Anna couldn't say what she was saying 'no' to: to Elsa being a monster, to Elsa having betrayed Ingrid, betrayed herself, to Elsa hating herself, to believing that it happened.

"Elsa yes," she said softly, and shook her head. "I'm as bad as Kristoff. Worse. You weren't even conniving with me. You, thank God, are still blameless."

"No, you're not like Kristoff. It's… It's different."

"How?"

"_I don't know._ It just is. You weren't lying – okay, you kind of were, by not telling me – but you weren't… You weren't being greedy. Selfish, I mean. You didn't do what you did because you wanted me, you did it because you loved me, and you were helping. Trying to help. I guess?"

Elsa nodded, shrugged.

Anna went on. "But Ingrid? When she came to get you? Was she…?"

"She was disappointed that I wasn't happier. Can you believe it? Sometimes I don't understand her. Or me. Or what I'm doing. God knows what you think of me now."

"I…" Anna was overwhelmed by her thoughts and feelings. "I don't know what I think."

"Times like these I wish we weren't Lutheran, because I'd really like to blame all this on Loki."

Anna managed a weak chuckle as Elsa smiled crookedly.

Elsa looked around. "And what you did for me here, this was the most beautiful, thoughtful, romantic thing… I was… I was weak and stupid." She gestured at the room. "I could never deserve this, deserve you. How could I even think that?"

Anna's confusion changed direction. "I did what here?"

Shuddering with the sobs she was holding in, Elsa gestured again at the music box, the room. "This. This beautiful moment. Finding the music box, setting up the room, inviting me here, dancing with me. It was more lovely and romantic than anything I could imagine, and I love you, and I wish I could deserve – "

"I didn't do this. I thought you did. _You_ sent for _me_, right? You sent…"

"…Ingrid?"

They stared at each other in silence. Elsa's hands flew to her mouth, but a hysterical giggle burst through her fingers.. "Ingrid! Of course! Because this couldn't be insane enough!"

Anna put a hand on her arm. "Elsa. Elsa!" Her agitation faded at Anna's touch, but the hysteria didn't leave Elsa's eyes.

"Anna, just when I think I don't know anything, I find out I know even less."

"Listen, I'm worried about you, and furious, and hurt, and I'm baffled at you, and a bunch of other stuff I can't figure out yet. But I do love you. I always will. Just like I said."

"Why?"

"Because… I just do, okay?" Anna shrugged helplessly. She saw the hysteria rising in Elsa again and grabbed her arms. "Listen! I just – I – I'm very confused. Overwhelmed, I guess. And I don't think I can talk to you right now. But somehow or other we are going to figure this thing out. We will. I know it. So…" She took a deep breath and stood up straight. "I'm going to go away now. It's a couple of hours to dinner, and I expect to see you there. So don't… So just… So, take care of yourself and don't hurt yourself or anything. Okay?" Elsa nodded. "Promise?" Nod. "Okay. So I _will_ see you at dinner. Right?" Nod. "Okay then. Well…" Anna waved, immediately felt like an idiot for doing so, and left the room.

Elsa stood in the centre of the room, the frost pattern growing more lacy as it crept towards the walls.


	26. Dialogues

There was a quiet tap at the door. Anna took a lunging step towards it, stopped herself, and resumed pacing. "C'mon in."

Ingrid entered, curtseyed, and closed the door behind her. "Ma'am." Hands clasped in front of her, she looked like a child waiting for the teacher's strap.

"Sit down, sit down," Anna said, waving at the divan. Ingrid sat at one end, hands clasped again in her lap, watching Anna fidget, then stop herself. "So," she blurted, too loud. Seeing Ingrid wince, she tried again, softer. "So." Anna looked around herself, pulled the chair from the vanity, and sat facing Ingrid. "So, Ingrid."

"Ma'am."

Anna cleared her throat. "We, um, we had a good talk, didn't we? Earlier?" Ingrid nodded. "You, me, Elsa, all that stuff. Me and Elsa. You and Elsa. Right?" Another nod. Anna crossed her legs, her foot jiggling. "Was there anything…" She looked at the ceiling. "Anything you might've left out?"

"I suppose I might have, ma'am…Anna."

"Something…important?"

"Important? I don't know. I suppose." Ingrid's shoulders moved just enough to shrug.

Anna looked at her, smiling, trying not to look intimidating. "Anything in particular? You want to talk about?" Her foot twitched like a metronome.

"I, um…" Ingrid blinked. "I can't think of anything I _want_ to talk about, but I'll answer any questions you have, ma'am."

Anna clasped her hands on her knee, looked down, then up again. "Ingrid, you, um… Elsa…" Her voice grew gentle. "Elsa loves you, doesn't she."

Ingrid's eyes were wide and shining, her mouth tight. She was torn between grinning and crying, and trying to stop both. She nodded.

Anna's expression was part frown, part gentle smile. "I mean she's _in_ love. With you. And was, and has been for…how long?"

"I couldn't say, ma'am. It's only been a couple of days since she said so. I don't know how long before that." Ingrid didn't move, but her knuckles were white. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Anna leaned forward, head tilted, eyes pleading for an explanation. "And you love her – I mean you're _in_ love with her – since…?"

"I couldn't say for sure, ma'am. Since well before she – before I kissed her. The mistletoe. Quite a while. Maybe since the second time we spoke."

Anna sat back, shook her head. "Oh. The _second_ time. Of course. Can't fall in love with someone you just met, after all."

"The first time I was…mostly terrified, ma'am."

"I see," said Anna, and rested her face in her hands. She looked up in time to see a ripple of tension leave Ingrid's body as she sat relaxed but erect. _Sit like a cat. Learned that from Elsa. _Anna considered ringing for some drinks, maybe some white wine._ No. Too soon._ "Ingrid. I'm not mad at you. Okay, maybe I am a little mad at you. Not for being in love with Elsa. I mean I was the one who…and you…and she… Anyway. But how could you let her do that? How could you let _me_ do that? How…?" Anna ended with a helpless shrug.

Ingrid gripped the fingers of one hand with the other. She looked down, to either side, then back at Anna. "I didn't mean for it to happen this way."

"Of course not, Ingrid. I know. But that's not an answer."

Anna waited patiently as Ingrid stared at the floor again. "She wanted to comfort you. You mean the world to her. I was afraid thinking of me might…get in the way."

"And just now, with the room and the music box. Do you _want_ her to cheat on you?"

"I want her to be happy. I want the two of you to be happy."

Anna scoffed in frustration. "Do you love her or not?"

Ingrid nodded.

"Don't you want to be with her?"

"Do you, ma'am?"

"Ingrid, please, answer the question. I just want to understand. I mean, in like two days I was in love with Kristoff, and it's great, then Kristoff cheats on me, I'm sad and angry and devastated, Elsa comes home early, I run to her for comfort, I kind of fall in love with her, and it's beautiful and exciting and scary and I'm happier than – I don't know – _ever_, and we're dancing and I'm so in love my heart is going to explode, but then Elsa's cheating on you and I'm the slut in the closet!" Anna paused to get her breath back. "So you can understand if I'm a little mixed up."

Ingrid's lip quivered, but she couldn't respond.

"Is this some…weird game to you?"

Ingrid shook her head no.

"Then what do you want? Really? And don't say 'I want her to be happy.' Give me a real answer."

Anna stared at her, waiting for an answer. At last Ingrid replied, "Please love her." Anna watched her swallow and blink away tears, and waited for her to continue. "You are her first and greatest love. I do love her, and want to serve her and be with her, and…in every way. It makes me happier than anything in the world. And she loves me. Or did."

"She does. She said so."

"But if I were to stand in the way of a greater love, my happiness…I would be stealing it from her. How could my happiness be worth the difference between her love for you and for me?" She stopped, shook her head.

Anna sighed. "Ingrid, love isn't supposed to be a formula. 'If X is greater than Y, then Z equals Elsa plus Anna.' It's not like that."

Ingrid stared blankly.

"Algebra? Mathematics?" Anna wiped a hand over her face. _Remember, she's self-taught._ "Okay, love is…it isn't like doing sums. Or counting coins to see if _this_ is worth more than _that_. It's… You don't think it through. You feel it." Anna scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Like I know anything about love."

Ingrid leaned forward. "You do. You love her. She loves you. When you're with her, when you danced with her, when you…_were_ with her. How did it feel?"

"It felt…good. Great. Wonderful." Anna gazed into the distance, recalling the feelings. "I felt safe, and loved. And free. We could be playful again. It was…like having my sister back. And more. Exotic, dangerous. But in a good way. And just being being able to open up to that love she's had for me, that I couldn't feel before, and feel her excitement and – and relief. No, more than that. Like a burden was lifted off of her, and she was light as a feather, and I was too. And also, you know, the bedroom stuff was amazing. But then I asked her about you, and that was pretty devastating, and I didn't know what I thought except that it changed everything, and – "

"Please love her." Ingrid's eyes were wide, frantic.

"What do you mean – "

"Please, Your Highness. If I was wrong, if she's not happier with you, if I made things worse, then I've spoiled everything. I've thrown away…lost…her… I tried to fix things with the music, and the dancing – I hoped for dancing – but it wasn't enough, and… Please love her, and make her love you. Fix things. Make it worthwhile. Make it be for a reason."

Anna paused, then stood and rang for a servant. _Not too soon for a drink after all._

* * *

Solvej was in the wine cellar, retrieving a bottle of Riesling. She didn't know that there was a hidden chamber next to it. If she had, she wouldn't have known which wall had the concealed doorway. But if she did, and if it had occurred to her to press her ear against the wall, she might've heard a conversation:

_"I love Anna. I love Ingrid. I can't love both of them"_

_"Evidently you can."_

_"You know what I mean. It's not fair to either of them."_

_"So what's fair to you?"_

The tap-tap of shoes pacing back and forth_. "What does it matter? I'm a monster."_

_"What's a 'monster'? Something strange and different. Why is that a bad thing?"_

_"Stop playing with words. I love them. And I've hurt both of them. What am I going to do? How can I fix this? What's wrong with me?"_

_"What are you going to do? Whatever you want. Between your crown and your gifts you are the most powerful figure in Europa. Probably the world. Who can stop you from doing anything?"_

_"That's not the point."_

_"Given… Given that you can do whatever you want to do, what do you want to do?"_

A sigh._ "I want to do the right thing."_

_"Right, wrong. You don't have to follow the rules. You make the rules. The constitution says you can't be censured or accused. Right and wrong are what you say they are."_

_"No! It's because no one can stop me that I have to stop myself. I have to care about right and wrong. And this isn't about laws, this is about love."_

_"So?"_

A long pause._ "This is about love. Anna loves me. Ingrid loves me. I can't… I'm responsible for them, their feelings, for how I treat them. That's the biggest responsibility of all. And I've been…toying with them. Using them. I've been selfish."_

_"Good! Best thing for you."_

_"What the hell do you mean?"_

_"Anna loves you unconditionally. She sacrificed herself for you once, and she's do it again in an instant. And Ingrid? She loves to serve you. She hungers for it."_

_"You are not making me feel better."_

_"Here's my point. They want to give. They want to be used. They crave it. It's how they show their love. For you to turn that down? Well, If they love to give, it's pretty selfish not to take."_

_"So, it's selfish not to be selfish?"_

_"All I'm saying is, stop being so guarded. Relax. Accept their love and forgiveness. Don't worry about protecting them from yourself. Make love to Anna. Make love to Ingrid. If they like it, where's the harm in taking what you want?"_

_"I can't do that! Anna's been through…well, the whole Kristoff thing. She needs my love, and it hurts her if I'm cheating on Ingrid."_

_"Does she have to know?"_

_"Of course! I can't lie to her."_

_"Then keep Anna and get rid of Ingrid. Simple."_

_"No, it's not simple. I love Ingrid, and it would crush her if I rejected her. I can't hurt her like that."_

_"Who do you love more?"_

Pacing footsteps._ "I don't – They're so different, I wouldn't know how to compare. And it's not the point."_

_"I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here. Giving you a different perspective. Up to you if you take it. So, Elsa, where do you go from here?"_

A mirthless chuckle._ "Ingrid said I'd follow my heart, anywhere it may lead. But it's pulling me in two directions."_

_"So. Your heart. How's that working out so far?"_

A long silence.


	27. Riesling

"I could've done that," said Anna, as Ingrid filled their glasses and sat down.

"I'm sorry," said Ingrid. "If you'd rather, I won't do it again."

"No, it's not that." Anna tasted her wine. It was cool and pleasantly tart. "I'm sorry. I keep trying to make you comfortable, but… Could you just not be a servant for a while?"

"I'll try."

Anna took another swallow of Riesling. She held up her glass, looking at the faint yellow tint it gave the light. "I, um… Ingrid? Could you do me a favour?"

"Of course."

"If I start to have something to drink tomorrow, could you tell me not to?"

"If you like."

She saw the concern in Ingrid's eyes. "It's not a big deal, but…" Anna thought about what Gerta had told her about her mother. "I just don't want to make it a habit, you know?" _Don't drink every day. Don't drink alone. Don't drink before… Well, at least it's close to five. _

"I suppose so."

"You haven't touched your drink."

Ingrid picked up her glass, held it to her nose, and inhaled the bouquet. She held it up to eye level, swirled the wine in her glass, and watched it run back down the inside. She took a mouthful and winced, puckering her face.

Anna was surprised. It had seemed okay to her. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"I'm sure it's fine."

"Then why did you make that face?"

"I'm sorry. I've never had wine before. I'm not used to it."

"Then what's with all the bouquet and legs and connoisseur stuff?" Anna replied to Ingrid's blank look by demonstrating the sniffing and swirling.

"It's what I've seen people do. I didn't want to look foolish."

Anna laughed. "It's okay. You don't have to drink it."

"I was surprised. But it is nice. Tart, like sour apples." Ingrid took another drink, with more satisfaction.

"Well, I'm relieved. It'd be pretty embarrassing if I couldn't tell good wine from bad. I mean, royal banquets and stuff. I have to look like I know what I'm doing."

"I'm sure you do know."

Anna drank again. "It doesn't feel like it some days." She paused, then forced herself to brighten. "Anyway, not a lot of drinking where you grew up?"

"Not wine. Beer with dinner, of course, and with lunch for the men. I had to have a little, but I didn't care for it. Akvavit on special occasions." Ingrid took another swallow of her wine, with growing satisfaction. "This is nice."

"It is. And I know what you mean. I had to have a little wine with dinners when I was growing up. Heaven help us if the Royal Princess didn't know her Merlot, or spooned her soup the wrong way. So, everyone else in the family liked their beer?"

"Except Anders." Ingrid brightened at the memory. "One time he said, 'It'd be a terrible thing if I became a drunk. Can you imagine me drooling, slurring my words, not even able to stand up? What a life!' " She laughed lightly, until she saw the distraught look on Anna's face. Ingrid sank in her chair, head bowed. "Because…he was already… It was funnier when he said it. Sorry."

Anna sighed. "It's okay, Ingrid. I'm glad you can laugh about it. I'm glad someone can laugh about something." She sipped. "Oh, what are we going to do?"

"I, um… That was a rhoric – rhetorical question, I suppose."

Anna shrugged. "You got any ideas?"

"You have someone you love, who loves you. That's worth fighting for."

"I could say the same thing to you. An' you had her first."

Ingrid spluttered on her wine. "I – I can't _have_ her. She has me."

Anna leaned forward. "So she's _not_ worth fighting for. Not good enough for you, eh?" Ingrid's eyes and mouth flew open, her face went beet red. Anna put her hands out in a 'calm down' gesture. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Relax." She gave the girl a moment to collect herself. "Remind me not to tease you again." Ingrid nodded. "But you want me to fight for her, and not you. I mean, you not – not you fighting for her. Why?"

"You…want me to?"

Anna smacked her forehead with her palm. "I want to understand. I want to figure out what's going on. Where I stand. What you're up to."

"I'm not up to anything." Ingrid's eyes were pleading. "I just want to make things right." Ingrid took a deep breath and sat up straight. "If I may, I'd like your permission to ask a question. A very personal question. It's a — "

"— terrible liberty, you're not worthy, blah blah blah. Oh for Satan, spit it out." She saw Ingrid wince. "I'm sorry. I don't mean it. Sorry."

Her mouth dry, Ingrid took another drink of her wine. She closed her eyes. "If you were in love with Kristoff, why didn't you fight for him?"

Pointing a finger at Ingrid, Anna said, "You weren't there. Let me tell you what happened." As Ingrid refilled their glasses, Anna told her what had happened that night, all the way from surprising Kristoff in her outer room to waking up hungover the next day. It might have been the wine, the passage of time, her new love with Elsa, or all three. But it didn't sting like it did the first time. When she got to the part about kicking Lissi out of the room, she was actually grinning, and Ingrid was quivering with suppressed laughter. Even the hangover was transformed from a painful memory to an entertaining story.

"And then Elsa came back and, well, you know the rest." Anna relaxed back in her seat. Her smile disappeared. "I swear to god, Ingrid, if I had known…"

"It's fine," said Ingrid with more passion than usual. "It's good. You're better than me. You're a princess."

"No no no." Anna waved her hands back and forth. "Princess is what I do, not what I am. You, me, Ingrid, Anna; we're the same."

"I don't mean to argue, Your Highness, but nope." Ingrid shook her head, stopped herself as the wine made itself felt. "You are gracious – "

"Hah."

"An' cultured and educated – "

"Double hah."

"And very, very, very pretty. Prettier than Elsa."

"H– What? She's beautiful. The beautifullest."

Ingrid nodded, then stopped herself again. "She's more beautiful than you, but you are prettier than her."

"I – " Anna thought. "I have no idea what that means."

Ingrid raised her finger, about to speak, then halted. "With your permission, I will explain tomorrow. Wine makes it hard to think."

"Yep." Anna rubbed her eyes. "So what do we do now?"

"You love her. You need her. And she needs and loves you. Go to her. And I…will be her faithful servant, as always. And only her servant."

Anna's eyes narrowed. "You love her too."

"I do. With all my heart. But if she could love you without sharing the ini – intimacy she craved, the least I can do is follow her example." She smiled, weakly. "It's what's right. I am her loyal servant, and yours." She squared her shoulders. "And now, by your leave, I shall help her prepare for dinner."

Anna smiled, her eyes crinkling. Waving a hand grandly, she said, "Thank you, Ingrid. You may go."

Ingrid stood up. "Whoo!" She wavered. "That was interesting."

"Y'know, maybe you shouldn't go just yet. Maybe you should lie down for a bit. I'll go check on Elsa, and you rest up. Okay?"

"As you wish," said Ingrid, as she lay down on the divan. Anna stood up, unsteady but steadier than Ingrid. "Send her my love and my apologies." Ingrid's eyelids drooped. "You are pretty, she is beautiful, and I am…"

Anna paused, but the sentence didn't finish, so she left to join her lover for dinner.

Before Ingrid lost her battle with fatigue, she thought, _Why was Kristoff kneeling? _but fell asleep before she could find the answer.


	28. Wake Up Call

Elsa opened the door to Anna's rooms a crack and peeked in. She saw Ingrid asleep on the divan, lying down, her legs flopped awkwardly over the edge. Elsa slid into the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

She smoothed Ingrid's hair and gently lifted her feet onto the divan. Elsa perched on the edge of the seat and watched Ingrid sleep for a little while, listening to her quiet breathing.

Satisfied that the girl was resting comfortably, Elsa shifted, about to get up and rejoin Anna. But her movement was enough to rouse Ingrid. Bleary, blinking eyes looked up at her.

"Hello, sleepyhead," said Elsa with an indulgent smile, her eyes crinkling.

Ingrid wailed in despair and rolled away from Elsa, burying her face in the back of the divan, covering her head with her arm.

"Hungover?" Elsa stroked her back, and felt Ingrid tense rock-hard under her hand. She heard muffled sobs. "What is it, mousie?"

"Please don't call me that," said Ingrid, her voice blurred by the cushions. "It's not right."

"Ingrid, what is it? What's the problem?"

"I've failed you. I'm so sorry. I – I'm sorry."

Elsa continued stroking her back. "Ingrid, we've all been through a lot in the past couple of days. There have been a lot of changes, a lot of… Well, I still don't quite know exactly where I stand, or where I'm going, with you or with Anna. Frankly, I think we could all use a few days of peace and quiet to take everything in. But all of us are kind, and we care about each other. I know we'd never mean to hurt each other. And if we have, I think we're all ready to forgive. So whatever it is that's troubling you, we can talk about it. We _have_ to. And in the end it'll be good for us. Now, why do you think you've failed me? Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

"I don't mean to argue, but it is. It is." said Ingrid. Elsa waited for her to go on. At last Ingrid rolled onto her back so she could look at Elsa. "I fell asleep." Elsa's quizzical look forced her to explain. Her face filled with despair, Ingrid said, "I fell asleep on duty. Worse, I got drunk, and _passed out_, on duty. I wasn't there for you. I'm a terrible servant and a terrible person. I'm a disgrace."

"Is that all?" asked Elsa, forcing herself not to giggle.

"It's enough. It's more than enough. My first full day as your amanuensis – No, it's not even a full day. The day's not over, and here I am…" Her lip trembled as she fought not to cry. "Here I am. Like this!"

Elsa almost wept with relief – and with the effort of not laughing. "Ingrid, you're a good servant, and a good friend. It's all right." As Ingrid shook her head, Elsa said, "It_ is_. It's fine. Anna told me what happened. She said for you to have some wine, and I know you wouldn't refuse an instruction from the royal family, so actually it's all on her. You're as blameless as ever. Was it really the first time you had wine?"

Ingrid, still a little groggy, paused to think. "Not if you count communion wine. But otherwise, yes."

Elsa sat up straight and adopted a serious expression. "I see. Well, I shall have firm words with Princess Anna about being more responsible with our servants." Her face softened into a smile. "And with our friends and loved ones."

Ingrid's mouth quivered as she tried to sort through the guilt, pride, relief, and devotion that were buffeting her like a storm. "Thank you. I'll make you proud."

"You already make me proud, mouse. I don't think I've told you enough how proud I am. You'd already done and learned so much before I met you, and I've seen how much you've grown since."

A sunny smile dawned on Ingrid's face. "Thanks to you, my queen. I owe so much to you. You made me who I am."

"You made yourself who you are."

"No, it's… I know who I am. I'm not a leader, I'm a follower. It's my nature to serve. And whoever I serve shapes me." She smiled even wider. "That's why I chose you."

"You _chose_ me, did you?" Elsa's smile became a smirk. "I seem to recall a terrified junior chambermaid coming to my study, shaking like a leaf. Are you telling me that even then you were planning on winning my heart?"

Ingrid blushed. "No, not like that. I chose to work for you. I wanted to serve someone good and kind and wise, someone I would always be proud to work for. Someone I would want to be shaped by. You."

"I'm not _that_ wonderful."

Ingrid looked at her, clear-eyed. "You are."

Uncomfortable, Elsa steered the conversation away. "And how did you manage to _choose_ to work here? There are only so many positions on the staff, even after we – I – opened the gates."

"I asked."

"It's that simple."

"Yes."

Elsa tilted her head. "Really?"

"Every morning, except Sundays, I came to the servants' door and asked if they had any work. After six weeks, Gerda said yes."

"Six weeks?" Elsa was taken aback. "Is that all?"

"And I worked very hard."

"I see. I thought you said it was easy."

Ingrid shook her head sombrely. "I said it was simple."

Elsa patted Ingrid's thigh. "The more I learn about you, the prouder I am." She sat up, dusted her hands off. "Now. I'm off to meet Anna for dinner. I suggest you – No, I _instruct_ you to rest here until you're recovered, and then get something to eat. I'll see you again this evening."

"A moment, please, if I may." Hearing Anna's name had triggered a faded thought in Ingrid's mind. "There was…something important. To do with Anna. And Kristoff. If I can just think of it. I beg your indulgence, but if you could give me a moment…"

"Of course." Elsa got off the divan so Ingrid could get up.

Ingrid paced as she thought. "Anna was telling me what happened with, um, that night. And there was… I apologize, I'm not making sense."

Elsa sat down again, watching Ingrid, fascinated. "No, please, go on."

Ingrid continued, half to herself, as she walked through the actions of that night. "He was nervous. He wanted to keep Anna here. He wanted to talk to her. She wouldn't listen. She led him into…"

As Ingrid entered Anna's bedroom, Elsa got up and followed, bemused. She leaned against the doorframe as Ingrid played both parts in the drama. "They were by the bed. He still wanted to talk. They kissed. He asked her to stand. He asked her to face away. He knelt down next to the bed, next to Lissi's uniform. To tuck it back under the bed."

Elsa, despite herself, was getting lost in the playlet being performed for an audience of one._ No, an audience of two. She's performing this for herself. _

Ingrid knelt down. She stood up. She put a hand to her chin and thought. She knelt, and brushed her hand across the floor, hiding a phantom dress. She stood again. She scuffed her foot.

"Why was he kneeling? Why wouldn't he push the dress with his foot? It's the sort of thing he'd do. He's a man, he doesn't care about fabric. But he – why did he kneel – " Ingrid's face went pale. "Oh dear." She stood motionless.

"Ingrid." No response. "_Ingrid._" Elsa took a half-step towards her.

Ingrid returned to the present, and met Elsa's eyes. "I – Elsa, there's something I want you to know." She swallowed. "As much as I want to be with you in every way, I hope you know that I would not put myself forward at your expense, or Anna's."

"Of course," said Elsa, puzzled, as she folded her arms, hugging herself.

"This may – complicate things," said Ingrid. Elsa nodded for her to continue. Ingrid unconsciously mimicked Elsa's posture, folding her arms against herself. "Kristoff was kneeling. It's the custom, among some commoners, for a man to kneel in front of a woman when he…when he is about to propose marriage."

Elsa dropped her arms. "What?" Ingrid nodded. "That's impossible! He didn't ask me for her hand. He didn't even mention it. How could he propose without my blessing?"

Ingrid grimaced. "Some men ask the woman first. Girls are not as scary as fathers. Or…you."

"He couldn't wait until I came back?"

"He may…have been counting on your absence. To have the courage."

"But…" Now it was Elsa's turn to pace and think. "If he was about to propose to Anna, why was Lissi undressed in the closet?" The bedclothes fluttered in an icy breeze.

Ingrid timidly raised a hand. "I have a theory."

"Well?" Elsa winced when she realized she'd snapped at Ingrid. "Sorry. I'm a little… Sorry."

Ingrid acknowledged the apology with a nod. "I think… That is, Lissi and I used to work together. I suspect in my absence, she was…trying on Anna's dresses." Ingrid paused for breath. She wasn't used to talking this much. "She heard Kristoff. He scared her. She hid in the closet." Ingrid dipped her head. "I suppose."

Elsa brushed past Ingrid and sat on the bed to think. It made sense. At least as much sense as Kristoff cheating on Anna. Maybe more. _But why didn't he say he was about to propose?_ She flopped backwards on the bed and stared at the ceiling. _No, if he was that nervous in front of Anna, how nervous would he be in front of Anna __**and**__ a half-undressed maid?_ She sighed heavily. It all made sense. "So now Kristoff's been unjustly banished, and Anna and I…" She sighed again, even more deeply.

After a minute, Ingrid cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to intrude on your thoughts, but I believe Anna is waiting for you in the dining room."

"Anna. Of course." Elsa raised her hands, and Ingrid pulled her to her feet. She smoothed her dress, patted her hair in place. "Well, there's good news."

"I…hope so."

"At least we have something to talk about over dinner."


	29. Cruciferous

Elsa opened the door to The Studio. She had already planned on having dinner there instead of the usual dining room so that it would be cosier, so that she and Anna could be physically closer together. She hadn't been expecting dinner to be laid out, the servants already dismissed, or candles on the table instead of lamps. Anna smiled at her, waved at the table. "I took some initiative. I thought it'd be nice to have something a little more intimate."

"It's lovely," said Elsa as she moved to her chair. _Good. Some privacy. Though I had different plans for this privacy earlier today._ As she sat, she could see, even in the dim glow, that Anna was hiding her nervousness. Elsa hoped her own wasn't as visible._ I have to tell her what Ingrid said. But maybe after the meal. Let her enjoy her food._

As they dined, Elsa teased Anna about the broccoli. "You know, people do eat it all the time. Willingly. At least it must be non-toxic."

Anna took a floret of broccoli on her fork, held it up and contemplated it. "Okay. Because I love you."

"Because I believe in you."

_It's food. People eat it. On purpose._ Anna took the morsel in her mouth, chewed thoughtfully. "It's…not bad. The texture is…different." She ate a piece of stem. "You know, it's okay. I've had worse."

"There. You see?"

"This morning. At breakfast. That pickled fish stuff." Anna shuddered. "I don't get it. But this I can live with."

"I hope you don't lose your sweet tooth. I won't know who you are."

"Oh, that's never gonna happen. But you can go ahead and tell Gerda we can have broccoli on the menu for state banquets again." Anna took a sip of water.

"You're not having wine?" Elsa was only a little concerned.

"I had my portion for today. I don't want to…" Anna slid the unfilled wineglass away from herself. "Did Gerda ever talk to you about Mama and…?" She nodded at the glass. When she saw the melancholy in Elsa's eyes, Anna hated herself for bringing it up.

"She didn't have to. I knew. I was so sorry for doing that to Mama."

Anna hastily said, "Oh no, it wasn't you. It was me. I mean, mostly me."

"You?" Elsa's head jerked up as she looked at Anna.

"She felt bad about how I missed you and how she could never tell me why. She was afraid of hurting me. You were afraid of hurting me. Maybe if everyone wasn't so afraid of hurting me, I –" _wouldn't have been so hurt _"Maybe things would be different."

"Anna – "

"Listen, I'm sorry I brought it up. I only talked about it because I'm a little scared I might do the same. Turn out like her, I mean. Not that it would be a bad thing to turn out like her. She was a wonderful, beautiful, woman. I mean inside and out. Just…" Anna smiled weakly. "No more wine for a while, okay? And never worry about hurting me. I'm a big girl now." _And perfectly capable of hurting myself. And others._

Elsa smiled weakly back, pretending to be reassured.

After dessert – and the citronfromage was a pleasure, even if Anna did keep wagging her eyebrows lasciviously and making Elsa giggle – Anna sat up and said, "So. What's the bad news?"

"What do you mean?"

Anna sighed. "You've been off all through dinner. You tried to hide it, but it kind of showed. I would've said something earlier, but I wanted you to have a chance to enjoy your dinner."

Elsa barked a laugh. "That's exactly what I was thinking about you. That I didn't want to spoil your dinner."

"Well, I'm never giving up dinners, so you might as well spit it out. Okay, bad choice of food-related words. Anyway. Go ahead."

Elsa put her hands together, touching her fingertips to her lips. _She said not to worry about hurting her. I hope she's right._ Elsa still didn't know how to say it, or where to find the courage.

Anna prompted her. "Is it about you and me? Or you and Ingrid?"

"It's about you and, um." Elsa took a deep breath and exhaled, making the candle flames waver. "You and Kristoff." Anna sat back, shock driving the expression from her face. "It may be that things weren't what they looked like. They might have been different. Very different."

"How different."

"It could be that Kristoff really didn't know Lissi was in the room. He might not have had anything to do with her."

"But I saw them there! Together. I mean, not _together_ together, but they were both in my rooms. At the same time. I mean, if there wasn't something going on, why was she undressed and hiding in my closet?"

"Because she was trying on your dresses. You know how she likes fancy clothes."

"Well, sometimes they are kind of rumpled, and that would – NO! Don't distract me! Tell me this. Why was he so nervous?" Anna's voice rose, and the expressions returned to her face with a vengeance. "Why did he try to keep me talking? Why did he try to keep me out of the bedroom? If he wasn't doing anything with her, **why did he try to hide her dress under the bed?**"

As Anna's voice grew louder, Elsa's grew more gentle. "He wasn't trying to hide her dress. He was kneeling, Anna. He was – he might have been – getting ready to propose."

Anna stopped dead, her mouth still open. She sat motionless, trying to take in what Elsa had said. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it again. After a long silence, in a voice so quiet Elsa could barely hear her, she said, "But why didn't he say anything?"

"I don't know, Anna." Elsa ran around to the back of Anna's chair and hugged her from behind, her cheek pressed against Anna's hair. "I don't know. It's only an idea. But whatever is true, we'll get through it. Together."

"No. It makes sense," said Anna, her voice quiet and flat. "He wanted to talk because he wanted to…to marry me. He was nervous because he was…because he cared about…" She grabbed Elsa's arm tightly and hung onto it like it was a life preserver. Her voice began to waver. "It was right there, and I couldn't see it."

"It's a misunderstanding."

"I was mean to him."

"You made a mistake. You're only human."

"I yelled at him, Elsa."

"You were upset."

"I…" Suddenly she wrenched herself out of Elsa's hug, and turned to face her. Anna's face was pale. "I called him… I was horrible. I was bad."

"You made a mistake, and you were upset, and whatever really happened – "

"_No, you don't understand!_" Anna took a deep, shuddering breath. "I called him a 'Sami bastard', Elsa." She looked away, hiding her face in her shoulder. "I yelled at him, and knocked him down, and kicked him out, and that's bad, sure. But I called him a Sami bastard. That was… Oh god, Elsa, I'm a bad person. I'm a horrible person."

"You're not a bad person, Anna. You're a good person who had a bad day."

"I said that…thing…to him. On top of everything else. I was disgusting. No wonder he didn't say anything."

Elsa stood, holding her arms awkwardly. She wanted to hug Anna again, but couldn't bear having Anna shrug her away again. "You didn't mean it, Anna. Not you. You didn't mean it."

"I _said_ it, Elsa. I wanted to say the most hurtful, disgusting thing I could, and it just flew off my tongue. Not a moment's hesitation. After that, how could he love me? How could you love me? How could anyone love me?"

Elsa knelt beside Anna's chair. "It was the pain talking. You thought he had done something terrible, and whatever was actually happening, the pain was real. But you're still the Anna he loved – loves. And you're the Anna that I love with all my heart." She put a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Anna? Anna? Look at me."

Anna looked at her, eyes reddening, starting to sniffle. "Yeah?"

"Forgiveness, Anna. Forgiveness."

"You think he could forgive me?"

"The important thing is, can you forgive yourself?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, Anna." Elsa hugged her, and even with Elsa kneeling and Anna still in her chair, it wasn't awkward at all.

"I love you so much, Elsa. Thank you."

"I love you, too."

After Anna had cried it out, she said, "Elsa?"

"Yes, Anna-pineapple?"

Anna smirked at the childhood nickname. "You're still kneeling. Does this mean _you're_ going to propose?"

Elsa cupped Anna's cheek with her hand. "Would that be so bad?"

"You goofball." She pressed Elsa's hand to her cheek, then gave her palm a quick kiss. "You'd better get up. This can't be good for your knees." As Elsa stood up, so did she. "I, um, have to talk to Kristoff about this."

"You don't have to. I could go."

"Nope. It has to be me. If the thing that you said happened really happened, then I owe him a big apology. And I need to find out for sure. But it does kind of make sense. Anyway, it's got to be me."

Elsa smiled sadly. "I understand."

"And I have to find out if he'd take me back. I mean, I'm sorry, you've been – that is, you were there for me when I asked you to love me, and you've been so romantic, and I've basically been jerking you around, and jerking Ingrid around, and being a jerk to Kristoff, and just being a jerk, and you still haven't answered my question."

Elsa blinked. "What question?"

"How could you love me?"

Elsa took Anna's hands in hers. "Oh, Anna, how could I not? Maybe you did some things wrong, but that's because you think with your heart, not your head. And that's what makes you precious to me. I was so cruel to you, shutting you out for years, and if you were the least bit sensible you would've hated me for it. But you loved me. You loved me so much it saved me, and yourself, and Arendelle. I wish I could love like you do, even when you had so many reasons not to."

"Silly girl," said Anna with a smirk. "You don't love _for_ reasons. Love _is_ the reason. For everything else."

Elsa pulled her closer. "And that's how I can love you. Because you're my reason." She kissed her tenderly.

Anna melted into the kiss, then pushed herself away. "I'm sorry, Elsa. I still have to talk to Kristoff."

Elsa nodded. "I see." Anna fidgeted, and Elsa's face fell. "Oh. You mean now."

"I don't think I'll be able to do anything until I straighten this out." Anna grinned uncomfortably. "Sorry. But hey, there's no blizzard this time. And no wolves, probably."

Elsa wanted to say, _Do you have to? Do you really want to? Can't you stay here? With me? At least for one more night?_ She straightened up. "Dress warmly, it gets cold at night. And bring an extra lantern. And food, and a blanket, just in case."

"Elsa, I'll be fine. I've led troops into battle, I've made love with my sister, I've even eaten broccoli. I can do _anything_."

Elsa chuckled. "Of course you can. And…" _you can do this, Elsa_ "…good luck. With Kristoff."

"Thanks." Anna kissed her on the cheek. "Really. Thank you." And she left.


	30. Well Met By Moonlight

Kristoff sat on a fallen log, with his campfire between him and the edge of the mountain pond, feeling the heat against his face and hands. Outside of the fire's circle of light, moonlight painted the trees and rocks silver-grey. It was well into the middle of the night, but despite Sven's occasional encouraging nudge (that almost knocked him off-balance), he still didn't feel like climbing into his wagon to pull the tarp over himself and go to sleep.

It was one of his favourite places in Arendelle, a deep pool high up the North Mountain, just below the snowline. It was one of the first to freeze over, and the ice-cutters would swarm like bees once the weather turned, but for now he had the quiet and beauty to himself.

Until the clop-clop of hooves echoed across the pond towards him.

As he saw the horse and its slight rider coming around the pond, he filled a pot with water and tealeaves, and put it on the fire. It was boiling by the time the horse had been hitched to a nearby pine.

"Um, hi," said Anna as she stood before him. She made a timid wave, then clasped her hands in front of herself again.

"Hi," said Kristoff, nodding. He didn't get up, or offer her a seat.

"Um, Kristoff? Can we talk?"

He paused as if about to say something, then simply nodded.

"Okay. Good. That's good." She sat cross-legged in the dirt, facing him and the fire, and tucked her skirt to preserve her modesty and protect her from the evening's chill. "Okay." She cleared her throat. Kristoff watched her, patient and impassive. "So. Here's the thing. I, um, have this theory. Well, I got it from Elsa, really." She thought for an instant. "Who I think actually got it from Ingrid. Anyway. Not the point. So." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "The, um, other day. When I kind of kicked you out of my bedroom. And the castle. And the capital. Well, you know. When you... When I..." He didn't show her any anger or pain, but he wasn't offering her a single particle of help. She took a breath. "You weren't doing anything with Lissi, were you."

Kristoff shook his head.

"In fact, you probably...you didn't even know she was in there."

He nodded.

"And when you were all nervous, and you had me face away, and you knelt down on the floor, you were..." She looked around as if the trees or the stars could help her, then turned her face to Kristoff again. "Kristoff?" She wrapped her arms around herself. "Were you going to, um, propose? To me?"

He nodded.

"Oh my god, that's, well I don't know what that is. It's kind of great, that you weren't doing anything with Lissi. And it's kind of horrible – well, actually really super-horrible – that I was so horrible to you. And you were going to ask me to marry you, well, that's just – wow. That's – wow. I, um..." She tightened the grip on herself, her head bowed. "I'm really sorry, Kristoff. Really, really sorry. For what I said, and what I did, and just everything. I am so, so sorry. I just can't say how sorry I am." She raised her eyes to him, looking for a reaction and not finding one. "Sorry." She dropped her gaze again and waited for him to say or do anything.

After a long, awkward pause, she heard a metallic clatter. Kristoff had taken a blue enamelled mug from the bag behind him, dipped it into the pot on the fire, and offered it to her. "Tea?"

Smiling for the first time since she'd left the castle, Anna said, "Yes, please," and reached for the mug.

"Careful, Anna. It's wet. And hot."

She took it by the rim, dried it off with her skirt, then held it by the handle and gave it a cautious sip. "Whoa! Hot hot hot hot hot." She blew on it, then sipped again.

"We're gonna have to share. I, um, only brought one mug."

Anna gave him a crooked, apologetic grin. "I guess you weren't expecting company."

"I wasn't counting on it, no." She handed the mug back to him and he took a drink.

"Anyway, I was wrong, very wrong, and I want to make it up to you. You're, um, not banned from the city anymore. Or the castle. And you can be Royal Ice Master and Deliverer again. And if you want a royal proclamation of apology, it's yours." She took the mug from him again. "And...the other thing."

"What 'other thing'?"

"The, um, proposal. I, um, that is, yes. Or 'I do.' I will. I accept your proposal. Of marriage. I will marry you." She broke eye contact, staring into the mug she had wrapped her hands around, trying to warm them. "If you'll have me."

She glanced up to see him looking at her thoughtfully. In a matter-of-fact voice he said, "Why?"

"What? 'Why' what? What 'why'? That is, 'why would you have me' or 'why do I want to marry you'?"

"_Do_ you want to marry me? I mean, why did you come up here? Because you miss me and love me and can't wait to be Mrs. Anna Bjorgman? Or because you messed up and you want to fix it, and you think this is what you're supposed to do, to make it up to me?"

"I mean, of course I love you, and I – that is – "

"'Cause you didn't seem to enthusiastic just now."

"Well, I have been pretty upset – not as upset as you, of course – and a lot of stuff has happened since – "

He held up a hand. "I'll make it easy on you. The, um..." He set his jaw firmly, forced himself to look her in the eye. "You don't have to marry me. I withdraw my proposal. Or, what would've been my proposal if...you know." Anna stared at him, wide-eyed. He gestured at the mug. "Could I, um..."

"Oh! Sure. Sure, of course." She handed him the mug. "But I, um, I said I was sorry. I _am_ sorry. I mean, if you're still that mad at me I understand. I think. I suppose if someone was as big a jerk to me as I was to you, well, I guess I understand if you don't love me anymore. Sorry."

"...I still love you," he muttered.

"Wait, what?"

"I do." He sat up straight. "And you still love me, too, I'm pretty sure. But sometimes that's not enough."

"I don't understand."

"I've been talking it over with Sven, and he makes some good points, but it comes down to this. I was okay with how much you and Elsa love each other. I was even okay with the fact that you love her more than you love me. A lot more. I was happy for you. Am. I am happy for you. But I thought it would at least be close. That I'd be in the same ballpark."

"Kristoff, what are you talking about?"

"You don't believe in me the way you believe in her. You don't have faith in me."

"That's crazy talk, Kristoff! What do you mean – "

"You spent most of your life waiting for Elsa. She shut you out, she ignored you. I mean, she had the best reason for doing it, or she thought she had, but from your side it had to look so cruel. Heartless. And you never lost faith in her. You always believed she couldn't be that way. You knew she loved you, and you loved her, and you had faith in her."

He stopped, drank the rest of the tea, and dumped the leaves out onto the dirt. Fiddling with the empty mug, he continued. "You saw me in what, I admit, looked like a pretty bad situation, but you had no faith that things maybe weren't the way they looked. You didn't have faith in me. Not enough to stop and wonder if..." He shook his head ruefully.

"I'm sorry." Anna wanted to touch him, put her hand on him, to comfort him. But he wasn't in reach, and getting up to move over to him would be too weird. "I'm sorry."

"You said that."

"I mean, I'm sorry for not trusting you. For thinking you could ever do...what I thought you did. And for all the other stuff. I just act before I think. I'm a terrible person."

Kristoff sighed. "It's not that simple. I mean, you don't hesitate. You do what you think is right, the instant it occurs to you. You never second guess yourself."

"Not _never_."

"Well, not very much. And that's a great thing about you. It's what makes you so brave, and honest. But it can also go wrong. And that's something anyone who loves you will have to deal with. I mean, if I _was_ cheating on you, what you did would be exactly what I'd deserve."

"Not all of it."

"All of it."

"No. I – There's something else I have to apologize for. When I..." She grabbed the hem of her skirt and twisted it in her hands. In a low voice she said, "When I called you...that name. 'Sami bastard.' I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. That was... I really don't like myself for saying that. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I've been called worse."

"Not by me. And you shouldn't be. Not by anybody. I'm...I can't come up with anything better than 'I'm sorry,' but I am. Sorry."

"Well..." He turned away, to put the mug back in his pack. "Just don't do it again, okay?" She nodded.

They sat in silence for a while, both staring into the flames. Sven tried to shove Kristoff towards Anna, but he pushed Sven's muzzle aside and said, "Not now, okay buddy?"

Anna cleared her throat. "So. About me loving Elsa more than you."

"It's okay." Kristoff smiled lopsidedly. "I knew all along you two had a special connection. I thought that, with Elsa away and you just having a huge success as Regent, that maybe you wouldn't need her so much and that you and I could build on what we had." He shook his head again.

"Hey. It's not impossible."

"No, it kind of is."

"I thought you were raised by love experts."

He shrugged. "Well, that's the thing. It's hard to be a love expert for yourself. Much easier to see other people clearly. I mean, like you and your sister. Can't miss it. You have so much love to give her, and she loves you so much, and so deeply, it's..." He chuckled. "Man, if the two of you ever _did_ get intimate like she wanted to, hoo boy! All bets are off. Kind of a good thing that'll never happen, I guess."

He expected her to scoff, or roll her eyes or give him one of her adorable awkward smiles, when he looked at her again. He wasn't expecting that guilty look as she bit her lip and turned away. "No way," he half-whispered.

She said nothing, simply twisting the edge of her skirt again.

"You did, didn't you."

"What? No!" said Anna, suddenly brightly animated again. "Me? And her? Like that? No! Of course not! I mean, that's just silly." She forced a laugh. "I mean who'd ever believe a thing like that, right? There you go with your crazy talk again. There's ol' Kristoff, with his...crazy..."

He was surprised at himself, that he didn't want to use this to get back at her. But despite everything, she was still that sweet, clumsy girl he cared about, and he couldn't change that. He made room for her on the log and patted the space beside him. She hesitated, then came over and sat down, her shoulder pressing against his bicep.

"So," he said gently. "How'd it happen?"

"I, um. Do I have to talk about it?"

"Not if you don't want to, no."

She nodded, then stared into the fire. "I was feeling really hurt right after you – I mean, when I thought that you – Anyway, I was feeling like, well, first Hans playing me along and not really loving me, and then it looked like you didn't love me either, and I was feeling like nobody ever would. Love me. Like that, I mean. For real."

"You know that's not true."

"Well, that's how I felt." He nodded, and she continued. "And there was one person who I knew would always love me, and who loved me like _that_, and I just really needed someone to love me, you know? So I... I asked her to come to my room. And she was super slow and careful and stuff, and it felt really safe being with her, and good, and..."

"You know what? I don't really need to know all the details."

"Yeah."

"But you couldn't have waited a day or two?"

"But it really hurt, Kristoff. And I didn't know what to do."

"People survive getting their hearts broken, Anna. It does hurt, but we survive."

She turned to him, and put a hand on his arm. "I am _so sorry,_ Kristoff."

He gave her a small smile. "I know." He sighed. "But I don't think you were really being fair to Elsa. I mean, even if she wanted to be there, you were still using her."

Anna gazed into the flames again. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I mean, at first, anyway. But it really did feel good. Not just the bedroom stuff. Being romantic with her. It felt super super good. And right." She pushed back a strand of hair. "I mean, until I found out she'd fallen in love with Ingrid."

"WHAT?"


	31. In The Cool Of The Night

It was peaceful in the castle, with everyone asleep except Ingrid. As she padded down the hallways, having completed her checks and preparations for the following morning, she was looking forward to slipping back into Elsa's bed. With a bedsheet between them, of course. Neither of them knew where they stood that evening, and while Ingrid didn't want to risk hurting Elsa or Anna, she did want to be there for her queen.

As Ingrid returned from the kitchen, making sure breakfast would be in order, she heard a voice calling her name. It was muffled, but it was saying, "_Ingrid. Ingrid._" It seemed to be coming from the wine cellar. And it sounded like Elsa.

_Did I wake her? Is she worried about me? Is she all right?_ Ingrid entered the room and saw nothing but racks of bottles and shelves of supplies. But she heard the voice again, coming from behind a cabinet. "Elsa? Your Majesty? Where are you?"

"_Go to the cabinet. Lift the right side and pull it towards you._"

She did so, and it moved slowly but easily, like a church door. Behind was a short flight of steps leading downward, making a right-angle turn halfway down. At the bottom was a large stone room, with windows like letter-slots along the top of one wall. An iron bedframe rusted in the far corner.

And in the middle of the room was a monolith of dark blue-green ice, rough-sided, nearly reaching the ceiling. "Hello?" she said as she stepped gingerly forward.

The far side of the monolith was flat and smooth. For a moment it reminded her of the memorial stones for Elsa's parents. But there was no carving on the flat side. It was mirror-smooth. She saw her reflection, hands clasped in front of it, but then it flickered away.

In its place was a reflection of the queen, although not exactly. Her blonde hair was upswept and spiky. Her eyes had neither whites nor pupils, simply a blue-white snowflake pattern on each, but they crinkled as she smiled warmly at Ingrid. In Elsa's voice the reflection said, "Miss Andersen! What a pleasure to finally meet you. Elsa's told me so much about you. I must apologize for the informality of shouting 'Ingrid,' but I had to talk with you and shouting 'Miss Andersen' seemed oddly formal under the circumstances." Her hand hid her lips as she chuckled.

"Ma'am," said Ingrid, and curtseyed.

"You _are_ a pretty little thing, in your own quiet way. I can see why Elsa's taken with you, Ingrid. May I call you 'Ingrid'?"

"As you wish." Ingrid's face remained placid as her mind raced. Is this a dream? Am I already back in bed?

"Thank you. And you may call me... Oh dear, I don't seem to have a name." The reflection put her palms together and touched her fingertips to her lips as she thought. "How about 'Frida'? That's a friendly-sounding name. And I do hope we can be friends, Ingrid, if that's not too forward." She smiled broadly again.

Ingrid gave a small nod. "I hope so, too." She swallowed, licked her dry lips. "I...don't believe we've met. Please forgive me, but may I ask who you are?"

"Oh, do you mind if I sit? I wish I could offer you a chair, but I can't really do anything on _your_ side." Ingrid nodded her assent, and Frida conjured a chair of ice and sat down, one leg crossed over the other. "I'm, well, a lot like you, really. We exist to serve and comfort Her Majesty. In my case 'exist' is a bit more literal." Registering Ingrid's furrowed brow, she went on. "I'm being a bit oblique, aren't I? Well, Elsa comes down here to think now and again. She's been thinking a lot about you lately, you and Anna. And like many people, sometimes when she's introspective she talks to her reflection in the mirror. And she _so_ needed someone to talk to that when she created this mirror, she created me."

Ingrid blinked. "She's been thinking about...me? Anna and...me?"

"More than you can imagine. The poor dear. She loves Anna, and you, and it's tearing her up inside. She keeps a brave face. She wouldn't want to burden either of you, she cares about you both so much. She couldn't talk to you and Anna _about_ you and Anna. That'd be..." She pursed her lips. "Awkward. And hard for her to be honest for fear of hurting you. She's thoughtful and caring to a fault, isn't she? And so she has me to talk to."

Ingrid nodded. "I see."

"But who am I to talk to? I knew you'd be pacing around here – I'm Elsa's reflection, I know what she knows – and I really wanted to have a word. Will you... Will you help me to help her? Please?"

"Of course," said Ingrid.

"Of course," echoed the reflection, smiling contentedly. "Anything for our queen. The problem is simple. She loves you and Anna, and it hurts her to love both of you. But it's so hard for her to choose, for fear of hurting either of you." She conjured an ice crystal in her palm, fiddled with it thoughtfully, then tossed it aside. "I mean, her and Anna. They have so much in common. They're both royal-born and royal-raised. They've loved each other deeply, since childhood. They've been through so much together; the long isolation, the shipwreck that – _you_ know – and the events of the coronation and after. Sisters, friends, colleagues, and now lovers. Can you imagine two people any closer than that?"

Ingrid shook her head.

"And then there's you. Her pet, her protege, her project. She must feel a lot of responsibility for you, since she made you who you are, practically single-handed. She gave you so much."

Ingrid nodded, her eyes shining.

"And what did she have to work with? A sweet, hardworking, devoted, uneducated farm-girl. Meek where she's confident, quiet where she's outspoken. A born follower and a born leader. Not much alike at all. It must have been very...enlightening...for her to spend time with you." Frida paused to examine Ingrid's reaction. "It's all true, isn't it?"

"Yes," croaked Ingrid, then cleared her throat. "Yes, it is."

"And of course she must feel an obligation – I mean, a debt of gratitude – that you were there for her when she was estranged from her first great love. And that you could comfort her when she was longing for Anna. You would do anything for the Queen."

"I would."

"Always caring for her, always protecting her. Always wanting her to be happy, never wanting her to be hurt."

Ingrid nodded, sniffled. "I would do anything for her."

"I know, dear, I know. You have such a giving, loving spirit. Which makes it so ironic that because you let her fall in love with you, her heart's being torn in two." Frida put her hand against her side of the mirror, as if she wanted to touch Ingrid and comfort her. "And you're forcing her to choose."

"I... I never meant."

"Of course not! And who could blame you? She is so beautiful and wise and kind, why wouldn't you want to have her to yourself, whether you were worthy of her or not? And how were you to know that she was about to finally, finally have the consummation with Anna that she'd been longing for since...who knows how long?"

"I..." Ingrid shook her head, unable to speak.

"There, there. I know it's painful for her to be pulled in two directions like this, and even if you are the reason you can't blame yourself. You're just a pure, simple girl from Lillefjord, doing your best, however it turns out."

"It... It doesn't have to be this way." Ingrid straightened her shoulders.

"What do you mean?"

"I can...make the choice simple for her. I can make her stop loving me."

Frida put her hand to her cheek. "You would do that? For her?"

"Yes."

"It may hurt her at first, even if it is for the best."

Ingrid pondered, then nodded. "It's for the best."

Frida stood and stepped as close to Ingrid as she could. "I am so proud of you, Ingrid. You are a good and noble and devoted servant. I am so proud."

"Thank you."

"And I am so glad we had this little talk." Frida sighed deeply. "This is a huge weight off my mind. You have no idea how grateful I am. You are... I'll just say it again. I am so proud."

"Thank you." Ingrid curtseyed. "If you'll excuse me...?"

"Oh, of course. Of course. And I'm so happy to have met you. Good night."

Ingrid left, closing the secret door behind her. In her mind she was already making up the divan for bed.


	32. Before The Dawn

"Elsa fell in love with Ingrid? I mean full-on, out-loud, 'I'm in love with Ingrid' in love?" asked Kristoff.

"But I felt horrible when I found out," protested Anna. "I swear."

Kristoff stood up to pace. "Elsa's in love with Ingrid?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm," said Anna, her lips pressed together.

"And she was when she came to your bedroom?"

Anna nodded once.

"And did...what she did. What you asked her to do."

Another small nod from Anna.

"What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking you cheated on me."

"No, what were you really thinking?"

She pointed a finger at him indignantly. "_I was thinking_ – " Her hand dropped back into her lap. Quieter, she continued. "I was thinking that Hans didn't really want me, and you didn't really want me, and maybe nobody would ever really want me. Except Elsa. Maybe." She looked up at him again. "And I needed to feel like _somebody_ could love me. That way."

"But how could she do that? No, forget that. How could you let her do that?"

"I said I didn't know!" said Anna. "I mean, I wouldn't do that to her. Not if I knew."

"Are you sure? You wouldn't have said, 'To heck with everybody, I'm hurting and I need her to make me feel better about myself.' Because you know she would. Hell, she did."

Anna crossed her arms. "I would _never_ do that to Elsa. Or Ingrid, either."

"And you're sure you didn't know?"

"She didn't say anything."

Kristoff huffed at her. "That's not the same thing."

"Well, I think it's the sort of thing she'd mention," said Anna indignantly. Then she uncrossed her arms. "Come to think of it, she did seem like she was about to tell me something. Until I mentioned you and I were, you know, having trouble. And she and Ingrid seemed closer than usual, which I figured was because of the adventures they had together. And she seemed a little less...touchy. Not moody-touchy, I mean less, um, tactile." She put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god, I should've known. Maybe I did know. Could I know, without knowing it? Okay, that just doesn't make sense. Does it?"

"Slow down, Anna." Kristoff held out his hands placatingly. "I'm sorry, I'm still feeling a bit rejected myself, right now. I think we can give you a pass on that one. For now, at least." He frowned. "How was Elsa when you left?"

"Fine, I guess."

"You guess? What did you say to her?"

"Well, when she explained about how you were probably proposing, which you were, I told her I had to find you and apologize, and make things right, and see if you'd take me back."

Kristoff looked at her. "Anything else?"

"Anything else what?"

"Did you talk about what this would mean about what happened between you and her? Did you talk about whether you still felt..." He shrugged. "...romantic about her? About how she would feel about having you yanked away from her, after being in love with you for so long and finally having you be in love back?"

"Well, I..." Anna thought. Her face fell. "But I just wanted to make things right."

Kristoff just looked at her again.

"Oh no," she said. "Kristoff? Do you think I, kind of, broke her heart a little?"

He shook his head ruefully. "Little bit, yeah."

"And...Ingrid?"

His level gaze stayed on her. Not chastising, but holding her accountable. "How did _she _take it?"

"Like, well, like Ingrid. She wanted Elsa to be happy, and she figured she'd be happier with me, and she did seem happy – Elsa I mean – until she told me about Ingrid, and – oh, Kristoff, I'm so confused now."

Kristoff stepped away to talk with Sven. " 'Propose to Anna,' you said. 'There'll never be a better time,' you said. 'What could go wrong?' you said." He scoffed. "What could go wrong."

He sat on the log again, straddling it so that he could face Anna. "A lot of guys get nervous when they propose. But there was one extra reason I was nervous. I knew – know – your situation with Elsa is, um, complicated. I thought if we were engaged, with that sort of commitment, that you could see us as a permanent thing, something solid. Something we could build our life around. That it could seal off our relationship from the stuff between you and your sister. But I was afraid I might be wrong about that. Looks like I was, even more than I thought." He saw the pain in her eyes, and took her hands in his as he answered the question she couldn't bring herself to ask. "I do love you, Anna. I always will. But sometimes, even if people love each other, they're not meant to be together."

"You...don't want to see me again?" She took a breath and put on a brave face. "That's all right. I understand."

"No!" said Kristoff, holding her hands tighter. "I want to see you, and be your friend. And maybe some day, if your complicated relationship with Elsa stops getting more complicated and gets _un_-complicated, we can see. If that ever happens. But I don't think we should be together right now. That's all."

Her shoulders slumped. "I'm a bad person, aren't I."

"You're a good person who's done some – not bad, exactly – some unwise things."

"It's because I 'follow my heart'."

"No, it's because you don't. Sometimes you feel like you have to fix everything, and you do what you think you're supposed to do instead of what your heart tells you to do. You have to trust yourself more, and not try so hard. I mean, sometimes you jump in, no hesitation, and it's exactly the right thing, and that's what makes you Anna. But if you do it because you're afraid and panicking, instead of compelled by what you know in your heart, that's when the wheels fall off the wagon." She stared at him, confused. "It's complicated. Grand Pabbie could explain it better. Sorry."

"So I'm not a bad person?" she said, and sniffled.

"No. Maybe a little bit. But not much." He held up his thumb and finger, with a tiny gap between.

"And you do still like me? A little?"

He held up his thumb and finger again. She swatted him on the arm. "Okay, okay," he said. He shrugged, and opened his arms to her.

"May I?" she asked. "That is..."

He nodded, and she threw herself into his arms, which closed around her in a warm hug. She felt his chest rise and fall as he sighed regretfully.

"Oh, Kristoff," she said, her face pressing against his chest. "what am I going to do?"

"You're going to ride back down to your sister, and her...Ingrid, and you're going to find out what you all really feel, and figure out where it goes from there. And I'm going to stay up here."

"You're not coming down with me?"

"No. I thought I could deal with all your human business. But I can't. Not like this."

"Human business?" Anna's brow furrowed. "But you're human."

"By birth. My family are trolls. Before that I was in an orphanage. I'm not complaining. I'm luckier than some. But that's no way to grow up like a normal human."

"But you said you wanted to be friends. You said you still love me."

"I do. But I also said that sometimes, even if people love each other, they mightn't be meant to be together. Now blow your nose." He held out a large handkerchief, which she took and used gratefully.

"I must say, no offence, but that's a really clean hankie."

"Well," said Kristoff with a shrug, "it's not like I ever use it."

"Eww." She tried to look appalled but couldn't help smiling.

* * *

It was a long, quiet ride home, with only the clop-clop of Flamme's hooves for company. Anna let the rhythm of the horse lull her into half-sleep, and wordlessly absorbed all that she'd been through, waiting for it to settle into something she could deal with. When Anna returned it was still the silent small hours of the morning. She walked the empty hallways of the castle, her candle the only illumination. It felt like a stage set after the play is over, with the actors gone and the house lights out. Strange and unsettling in its unfamiliar familiarity. _So this is what it's like for Ingrid, when she's up in the middle of the night._ Anna was grateful for the calm. _I can see why she likes it_.

And then the silence was was broken by a muffled voice. "_Anna? Are you there? Is that you?"_

"Elsa?" The voice seemed to be coming from the wine cellar. Anna couldn't imagine what Elsa would be doing there, let alone at this time of the night. "Is that you? Are you all right?"

"Just follow my voice. I'd like to talk."

Anna followed the voice and its instructions on opening the hidden door. In the lone light of her candle an icy monolith glittered and sparkled. She stepped around to the front and saw Elsa behind the polished surface, except different. "Are...you're not Elsa. Are you?"

"No. You can call me Frida." She smiled. Her eyes, each orb covered with a snowflake sigil, were as warm as their icy surface would allow.

"What are you doing here? Why are you here?"

"Well... First, would you like to sit down? I'm afraid I can't offer a chair, but I'm game for sitting on the floor if you are."

"Um, sure, I guess." As Frida sat on her heels, Anna sat campfire-style. Tucking her skirt in reminded her of doing the same earlier that night, with Kristoff.

"First off, I have to say that Elsa's told me so much about you – all of it good, of course – and it's such a pleasure to finally meet you. Which, really, is why I'm here. Elsa needed someone to talk to. And by the looks of things, you could use someone to talk to, too. I mean, 'talk to, as well'." She smiled self-deprecatingly.

"But why couldn't she talk to me? I thought we could talk about anything."

"Of course you can," said Frida, leaning forward. "Normally. But it's awkward to talk _to_ you _about_ you, now that things have become so – how shall I put this – entangled. You and Ingrid, that is."

"That's exactly the sort of thing we need to talk about! 'Her and me'-we, not 'you and me'-we."

"And I'm sure she will. Once she has things straight in her own mind. But you have to understand, it's all very confusing for her. She's torn. First she falls in love with Ingrid, to everyone's surprise including hers. Then you make her sleep with you."

"I didn't exactly – "

"No. She was willing, definitely. And how could she say no to you? But now she feels like she has to choose between the two of you." Frida sighed, then waved away the topic. "But never mind that. How are _you_ doing? Did you get to talk to Kristoff? Did he take you back?"

Anna wrung her hands in her lap. "Mmm, not exactly."

"Oh, no." Frida's mouth was a perfect O of concern.

"I mean, he still likes me. And he says he still loves me. But he says he can't be with me right now. Not until me and Els– until Elsa and I and Ingrid get un-entangled." Frida nodded solemnly. "He says that sometimes people can be in love and not be meant to be together."

"He's very wise, sometimes." Then Frida grinned crookedly. "Did he say it, or did Sven?" They chuckled. "From what I hear, Sven's the smart one."

"Yeah." Anna sighed. "No, it was all Kristoff. Unless he got it from Grand Pabbie."

"Ah, the love expert."

Anna shrugged. "Maybe it's just as well. Kristoff said I kind of broke Elsa's heart, probably, when I ran off to try to be with him. Also he also doubted I really did want to be with him. It's all so confusing."

"Yes, I understand. A couple of confused sisters."

"I guess."

"Of course," said Frida, looking off thoughtfully, "it would've been simpler if he had taken you back. Now Elsa has to choose between you and Ingrid. And she knows whoever she chooses, the other one will be hurt. And that'll hurt her. She's so loving, it's sad that it should hurt her like that."

"Yeah." Anna bobbed her head in agreement.

"I mean, look at how much she loves you. She would risk everything to be with you. And does."

"And does?" Anna tilted her head.

"Well, you're her sister." Frida sat up straight. "If people found out about her and Ingrid, it would be a scandal, but hardly unprecedented. The master and the maid? Or mistress, rather? Practically a cliché. A delicious frisson. And other French words."

Anna smiled at the comment.

"But_ incest?_" Anna's smile became a wince as Frida said the word out loud. "How many people would turn against her? The church, definitely. Other nations, certainly. The people? They love you, but there are limits. Risking her crown, her people, her good name and honour, everything she accomplished. All for the love of a single girl. Now _that's_ love."

Anna's voice was as dull as clay. "Yep. That's love all right."

"A grand, epic love, that will echo down through the halls of history. Pity about Ingrid, though."

"Yeah. Ingrid."

"After all, they have so much in common. What did you say, all that time ago? They like each other. They get along with each other. They're both obsessed with doing the right thing. They both talk like they've swallowed a textbook. And when Ingrid's face isn't pointed at the floor she's very pretty. And she's not pointing her face at the floor so much these days."

"Hang on, Elsa told you that?"

"I'm her reflection. What she knows, I know. But you had a point. Serious. Reserved. They're a lot alike. Certainly not like you and Elsa. But I guess that's what makes it exciting?"

The weight of her emotions and of overdue sleep were weighing down Anna like a heavy greatcoat.

"Besides, Ingrid won't mind. She doesn't mind anything. Lose her brother, lose her queen, never complain. I'm sure she'll find someone of her own. Eventually." Frida folded her hands and touched her fingertips to her lips. "Then again, she's never going to leave the castle if she can help it. Rest of her days, probably." Her hands returned to her sides. "Gerda never married, did she." Frida leaned forward, examining Anna. "But look at you! Up late, worn out from a long ride, and here I am talking your ear off. You'd better get some sleep. I'm sure everything'll look much clearer in the morning. Right?" She smiled. "Or early afternoon, at least."

"Sure. G'night."

As Anna stood up, Frida did the same, brushing smooth her ice dress. "Sleep well." She put her finger to her lips. "What was that think Kristoff said? 'If people were meant to be together,' or something?"

Anna shook her head sleepily. "No, it's 'even if people love each other, they might not be meant to be together'."

"Right. Thanks. Good night. Come back anytime." Frida smiled as she heard Anna's steps fading behind her.


	33. Pastorale

_I'm going to tell her, _said Ingrid to herself as she puttered around in Elsa's outer rooms, re-straightening her papers for the day, picking things up and setting them back down. _She will come out of her bedroom, and I will talk to her and make her stop loving me. And she can be happy with Anna. Today. This morning. I will tell her. _Ingrid straightened her shoulders.

Elsa came out of her bedroom, yawning and stretching, her silk nightdress following the contours of her body as closely as Ingrid's eyes did. "Good morning, Ingrid. I missed you in bed," she said, smiling. Ingrid made a staccato curtsey, and Elsa kissed her forehead before sitting at the vanity and waiting to have her hair brushed and braided. "If you want to sleep in some morning with me, I wouldn't mind." She smiled again, making eye contact with Ingrid's reflection in the mirror.

Ingrid paused. "I…" She resumed brushing. "I hope you're well this morning."

"I'm fine, thanks. Tired, but fine."

"You could go back to bed, if you like. I can arrange – "

"Not that kind of tired," Elsa said with a sigh. "Things have been, um, intense lately. Thank god you're here for me. You're a comfort."

Ingrid dipped her head. "Thank you." _I have to tell her – _

"I don't need sleep. What I need is…calm. Relaxation." Ingrid's hand paused on her shoulder, and Elsa placed hers on top.

_I __**will**__ tell her. _Ingrid felt the gentleness of Elsa's hand on hers._ But not right now._ "Did you have anything in mind?"

Elsa's hand left Ingrid's as she waved vaguely. "Go someplace peaceful. Outside. Mmm, maybe a picnic?" Holding her head still as Ingrid braided and arranged her hair, Elsa met her eyes in the mirror again. "Ingrid, how soon could you arrange a picnic?"

"Oh dear. Not for a while." She wrapped Elsa's braid around her head and tucked the end in place. "Not until, oh, one o'clock."

Elsa turned to face her. "Today?"

Ingrid stared out the window, running through the notes in her head. "If your meeting with the councillors stays on schedule, and no one gets the Councillor Of The Exchequer excited – " they shared a wry smile " – then we can move the visiting dignitaries from the afternoon reception to dinner. I'm sure they'd be flattered. If you don't mind, of course."

"That'd be perfect."

As Ingrid dressed Elsa for the day, she added, "I'm afraid Anna won't be joining you for breakfast. She got in very late last night."

Elsa put her hand on Ingrid's arm. "She found Kristoff? How is she doing?"

"I couldn't say. She was too sleepy to talk." It was Ingrid's turn to put her hand on Elsa's. "I'm sure she's fine. She's strong. And I'm sure she'll be awake in time for your picnic."

Elsa smiled gratefully.

* * *

_Be strong, _Anna said to herself as she rubbed her eyes and poured herself another cup of tea. She waited in her outer room for Elsa to fetch her for a surprise picnic._ Okay, I'm definitely telling her. The minute she gets here. She's gonna want to comfort me over the Kristoff thing but I had that coming. So I just have to tell her I need to be on my own, and she can get back with Ingrid and everything'll be fine. _

_Eventually._

There was a tapping at the door. "Is that you Ingrid? Come in." Anna stood to meet Ingrid, but Elsa came through the door first.

"Oh, Anna, are you all right? How are you doing?" She gripped Anna by the arms.

"I'm fine, really."

"And Kristoff?"

"Pretty good, all things considered."

"And the two of you?"

"He, um, he's staying up on the mountain for now. He's not angry – he wants to stay friends, _just_ friends for now, and I think he means it – but he needs to be by himself for a while. And about that…"

"Are you all right for going on a picnic? Ingrid talked to you about it?"

"Of course." Anna saw a trace of something in Elsa's eyes, the same desperate joy she had on that birthday with the sneezing and the cough syrup and the snowgies. "It's _okay_, Elsa. Really, everything's okay."

Elsa dropped her arms. Anxiety had crept up on her as she waited to get through the morning. "I just wanted – "

" – to make it a perfect day?"

They chuckled, and some of the tension drained away. "I wanted a chance to get outside and relax. Blue sky, green grass. A chance to breathe for a minute. I need it. I think we both need it." She nodded at Ingrid, standing dutifully behind her. "We all do."

"So, a picnic. Awesome. Where to?" said Anna.

Elsa shrugged. "I don't know. I was thinking the city park, although it'd be nice to have a little more privacy."

"I know the perfect spot. There's a clearing in the woods a half-mile past the main road. I don't think anyone goes there. I loved it last time I was there."

Elsa gazed gratefully into Anna's eyes. "Well, if you love it, I'm sure it must be – "

" – perfect!" they said in unison, and laughed.

"Jinx!" said Anna, and they linked pinkies.

Ingrid held the door as Elsa took Anna's arm and they left the room. "Are you sure you're all right?" asked Elsa.

"Of course I am," said Anna. "I'm with you." She walked happily along, Ingrid on Elsa's other side, when she suddenly remembered. _Damn! I didn't say… Well, she's right. She needs this. I'm not going to spoil it for her. Or for Ingrid. Or for me. We all need a break. Later we can straighten things out._

_Maybe I'll ask Ingrid to remind me. _She stuffed down the sarcastic thought and kept a smile on her face.

* * *

Elsa and Ingrid followed Anna through the woods. Elsa wore a light blue summer dress and transformed her shoes from heels to flats to walk through the spongy layer of leaves and pine needles underfoot. Ingrid, her white apron flashing as it appeared and disappeared behind the basket she was carrying, was beside and a little behind her. Breathing a bit heavily from the exertion, Ingrid said, "Well, we did make good time getting here."

"We certainly did." Elsa smoothed her windblown hair. "Why did I let Anna drive the carriage again?"

"I couldn't say, but I think because she knew where we were going. And because it made her happy." Ingrid shifted her grip on the basket. "It may also be possible, if you'll forgive my speculating, that you like going fast?"

Elsa chuckled. "What gave me away?"

"I think the whooping."

The woods lightened as they reached the edge of the trees. "Well, I found it," said Anna. "But it's…not quite the way I remember." Anna's green summer dress complemented the yellow-green of the wild grass that had grown chest-high in the clearing. "It may have been a little while since I was here last. But _hey_, no problem." Anna held her arms up and forced her way through the grass, tramping down a narrow corridor for a couple of yards. " 'Hay', get it?" With a grunt she pushed forwards again until Elsa stopped her.

"It's all right, Anna," she said. "We'll…" She looked around the overgrown field, searching for an idea.

"I have an idea," said Ingrid, "but I'd need some help."

"I'm up for it," said Anna.

Ingrid scuffed her toe in the half-decayed leaves. "Not that kind of help." She looked up at Elsa. "If I had a long branch, with a blade…" Her voice lowered. "…_of ice_…" She swallowed. "I could scythe a path for us. I did that on the farm, a little. If, that is, you would…?"

"It's a good idea, but I think I have a better one. If you'd both stand behind me…" Elsa faced the field as Anna and Ingrid looked over her shoulder. "Farther back, please." They backed up. Elsa looked over her shoulder. "A little farther. Just to be safe." They backed a few more yards away.

Elsa sat on her heels, looked thoughtful, then chopped her hand sideways, near the ground. A sizzling ripple of light shot forward across the clearing, illuminating the grass from below, accompanied by a crackling sound. She stood and waved her hand. A chill breeze flattened the wild grass, toppling it flat.

Elsa exhaled as Anna and Ingrid came forward. Anna picked up a stalk of grass and examined how it had been frozen through near the base, where it had snapped cleanly. "If you ever need a second career, you can fall back on farming." She chewed on the grass stem. "Best be harvesting the north forty, ma'am. S'pose it'll take 'bout a minute and a half."

Elsa chewed on a grass stalk, too. "Looks like a good crop of winter wheat this year, I s'pose."

Ingrid put her fists on her hips. "_Du_, don't just stand there like a couple of fenceposts, get that there hay there spread for drying! Day's half gone and we have to get this dry b'fore we bale it! If the goat gets sick from eating rotted hay again it's not _me_ who'll clean it up, I tell you that for sure, there."

Elsa and Anna stared at her.

Ingrid's hands left her hips to fold together behind her back. "I…thought…we were talking like farmers? Like…papa?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Elsa. "We didn't mean anything by it. Anna and I were just–"

"Did he really talk like that?" said Anna. "And did the goat _really_–"

"Ingrid, I apologize. We meant no disrespect. And…" She glared meaningfully at Anna. "…I think any stories about dyspeptic goats can wait until after lunch. _Well_ after lunch."

"Oh, no offence taken," said Ingrid. "My sisters pretended to be princesses. It's only fair." She leaned towards Anna and quietly added, "Also, yes to both questions."

They walked across the meadow, Elsa's breeze blowing a path clear for them as they enjoyed the sun and the smell of fresh-mown grass.

They paused in a flat spot in the middle of the field, Elsa saying, "This looks like as good a spot as any." The other two nodded their agreement.

Ingrid set down the basket gently. "I can spread a blanket on the grass," she said quietly to Elsa, "unless you'd prefer to, um, _produce_ a table and chairs…?"

"On the grass will be fine, Ingrid. Unless you'd prefer?" Ingrid shook her head. "It's hardly a picnic otherwise, is it?"

Ingrid nodded and laid out the picnic. Anna had already started gathering wildflowers, and Elsa went to join her. Ingrid glanced at them as she worked, watching Elsa gently lay her hand on Anna's arm, then Anna suddenly giving Elsa a one-armed hug, her other arm too full of flowers. They touched foreheads, laughing and smiling as they shared endearments too private for Ingrid to catch. She smiled as she worked.

Ingrid stood as the Queen and Princess returned to their picnic site. "We brought the centrepiece," said Anna, presenting the multicoloured bundle of flowers she and Elsa had gathered. "I…may have overdone it a little."

"Oh no, not at all," said Ingrid, scanning the food laid out on the blanket and calculating how to rearrange it.

As she moved jars and bowls around, Elsa said, "Let me help you with that." She arranged the flowers in a basket-weave vase of clear ice which towered in the middle of the "table".

Elsa and Anna sat down. Anna looked up at their dutiful servant. "Well, don't just stand there like a fencepost, Ingrid," she said, grinning. "Sit down and dig in." Elsa nodded her assent, and Ingrid took a place on the blanket.

"The flowers are very pretty," said Ingrid, as she caught Elsa looking at them with a soft frown.

Elsa grabbed the vase and put it behind her on the open grass. "Not as pretty as you two. There. Now I can see you properly." She smiled a Mona Lisa smile as she watched the two young women get flustered, Anna grinning as she pretended to object, Ingrid looking down shyly then raising her eyes. Then Anna caught Ingrid's eye and gave her a look that said,_ Check out the smooth-talking romantic over there,_ nodding at Elsa. Ingrid replied with a tiny nod of recognition. Elsa's hand covered her smile.

They began with the fruit course. The royal sisters loaded their plates with cut pieces of fresh fruit. Ingrid looked over the selection, speared a slice of apple with her fork, and transferred it to her plate.

"Please, Ingrid. Help yourself," said Elsa.

"Yeah, don't be shy," added Anna, through a mouthful of grapes. "Well, don't be _as_ shy.'' She turned to Elsa. "She _is_ Ingrid, after all." She turned back to smile at Ingrid, to let her know she was just teasing.

Ingrid took a bite of the apple slice and chewed thoughtfully. "Oh, I see," she said, mostly to herself.

"_Oh?_" said Elsa, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not important," said Ingrid.

"Well you can't just leave it at that, Ingrid" said Anna. "See what?"

"There was a sour apple tree on our farm. I never thought why they were called _sour_ apples." She held up the morsel remaining on her fork. "Other apples are like _this_."

Elsa's brow furrowed. "You've never had an apple before? Except sour apples?"

Ingrid chewed and swallowed. "Not raw."

"Raw?" asked Anna. "You mean, fresh?"

"I suppose so," said Ingrid. "Mama bought preserves, sometimes, or traded for them."

Anna blinked. "You've never, in the kitchens, snuck a piece of…" Catching Elsa's warning look, she turned her question into a statement. "…fruit, of course, because you would never do a thing like that."

Elsa leaned forward and gently asked, "Have you never had fresh fruit at all?"

"We're not poor!" said Ingrid as she sat up indignantly. "I had a piece of orange once, for Christmas."

Elsa and Anna shared a look, first of surprise, then anticipation. They scooted towards Ingrid, who leaned back but stood her ground.

"Well, we have to do something about this, don't we?" asked Anna.

"Of course. It's our duty," replied Elsa, with a slowly blossoming grin. They heaped Ingrid's plate with a sampling of all the fruits they had brought.

"Not a lot of orchards in Lillefjord, I suppose?" said Anna.

"Not a lot of orchards in Arendelle," said Elsa, "as you'd know if you read the reports on agricultural exports and imports."

Anna rolled her eyes and turned to Ingrid. "You're gonna love this. Okay, this is a cherry," said Anna, showing one to Ingrid.

"She knows what it is, Anna. She just hasn't had one before."

"Open," ordered Anna, and tossed one into Ingrid's mouth, then popped a couple into her own.

"Mmmf," said Ingrid as she discovered the unfamiliar flavours. "It's very, um…"

"It is, isn't it?" said Anna, slightly muffled by the cherry pits in her mouth.

Ingrid chewed thoughtfully, savouring the new experience. She swallowed, then leaned towards Elsa, her voice low, her eyes wide. "I don't know what one does with the pit."

Elsa smiled and patted her knee. "You bring your napkin to your mouth, and—"

—_phtoo_— Anna fired a cherry stone in a majestic arc, ending a few yards away and vanishing in the grass.

"—_**if **_one is not in the middle of a field and returning to a state of nature—" Elsa tried to look stern at Anna, who shrugged and made a _who me? _expression, one cheek bulging slightly with her remaining cherries. "—you wipe your mouth with your napkin and discreetly deposit the stone in it."

Ingrid looked back and forth between Elsa and Anna, her brow furrowed. She hid her mouth with her napkin, paused, then —_phtoo_— fired the pit off to the side where it quietly disappeared. Anna gave Ingrid's shoulder a playful nudge as Elsa raised her eyebrows, her mouth quirking. "I didn't want to stain the napkin," said Ingrid. "It sets. And as you said, we _are_ in a field."

Elsa and Anna shared a look, then a laugh, Elsa patting Ingrid's knee again to reassure her.

Anna watched Elsa feeding a segment of mandarin orange to Ingrid, seeing Ingrid's eyes widen at the burst of sweet tangy juice in her mouth, hearing the moan of surprise and pleasure, seeing Elsa's pride and delight at Ingrid's yet, she had a sudden urge to shove herself between them and have Elsa feed sweet pieces of fruit to _her_, to have Elsa look at her that way. _Hey, girlie, she's __**my**__ sister – or lover – or whatever._ She set down her plate and put her hands behind her back to keep herself from doing something stupid. _Stop it, idiot. Look at how happy Elsa is, being the big sister again. She loves you, but you're too old and seen too much. There's nothing left for her to teach you. Not like that, anyway. Ingrid can be her little sister __**and**__ her lover, and it won't be sick or weird or dangerous. It'd be a scandal if it got out, but no one would call her an abomination._

Anna's stillness caught Elsa's eye. "Anna, you look so serious."

Anna grinned convincingly. "No big deal. I was caught up watching Mama Bird feed Baby Bird. Very ornithological." She made a show of resting her head on her hand and observing them. "Go on, don't let me stop you."

Elsa smiled, gently shook her head, and turned back to Ingrid. Anna sighed softly as Elsa offered Ingrid a bite of pineapple. Elsa saw Ingrid's hesitation. "What is it?"

Fruit wasn't common in Arendelle, but pineapples were practically mythical. There probably weren't more than half a dozen of them in the country at the time. "It's too good," said Ingrid. "You'll spoil me."

Elsa gave her a bemused smile. "She's afraid we're going to spoil her, Anna."

"We've got to spoil somebody, I suppose, and she's here." Anna popped a morsel of pineapple into her own mouth to encourage the timid maid.

Ingrid took the bright yellow delicacy from Elsa's fingertips. She closed her eyes as she bit down. "Mmmm." Her mouth watered at the taste. "Oh my goodness! This is delicious." She luxuriated in the exotic flavour. "It's tangy, but sweet. And…different. It reminds me of something…"

"Of what?" said Anna.

"Of…" Ingrid stared thoughtfully into the distance, then her eyes widened. "Oh!" She dropped her head, blushing, peeping at Elsa through the stray strands of hair falling from her forehead.

"Of what? Come on," said Anna.

"Begging Your Highness' pardon, ma'am, but I'd rather not say," muttered Ingrid.

Anna's eyes darted from Ingrid's mortified expression to Elsa's shocked, then wickedly amused, one. "What? What…ohhh." Anna rocked with laughter.

"Anna! Don't be mean!" said Elsa, sputtering with her own restrained laughter. Ingrid, meanwhile, had covered her face in her hands, peeping through her fingers at Elsa for reassurance. "It's okay, Ingrid."

Anna forced herself to recover her composure. _N__ot so much "what" as "whom," Ingrid?_ "Well, let's just, um, move on to, um…" She looked for a blander, less controversial fruit. She nearly reached for the banana before catching herself. She placed a slice of pear on Ingrid's plate. "Here. A nice palate cleanser before the next…whatever." Ingrid accepted it gratefully.


End file.
